The current issue of the Arizona Hydrological Society newsletter offers a positive assessment of new Deputy and Assistant Directors appointed at the Arizona Dept. of Water Resources. AHS Corporate Board President Alan Dulaney wrote in his column that:
Mike Lacey, a long-time AHS member and principal at Fluid Solutions, Inc., has been selected as the new ADWR Deputy Director. Mike brings a depth of hydrological and managerial expertise to the agency that should be much welcomed. As one of two Assistant Directors, Mike Johnson comes from the surface water side of the agency, and should bring a renewed focus on engineering to ADWR. Tom Buschatzke will start as the other Assistant Director on July 18, in charge of planning. Tom comes from the City of Phoenix where he was Senior Water Advisor, with a wealth of knowledge concerning the Colorado River and the Central Arizona Project. Tom has participated in almost every major water initiative over the last several years, and will bring an interesting new slant to several programs at the agency. A new supervisor for adjudications projects and a new ombudsman/legislative liaison have also been appointed.
New brooms sweep clean. It could well be that many programs at ADWR will be revised and revamped to fit current exigencies. I would look for a re-organization at ADWR sometime over the next few months, and I think the staff will welcome it. I don’t think it will be business as usual—these new guys will not long tolerate stale thinking. And this is a good thing for the agency. Cruel cuts in the budget have brought ADWR to a turning point; things can never again be the same as they were in years past, and to remain vibrant, the agency must change and adapt. The new management team could just be the guys to bring that change off. I wish them much success.