{"id":219178,"date":"2010-01-13T13:07:55","date_gmt":"2010-01-13T18:07:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/waterfront\/?p=505"},"modified":"2010-01-13T13:07:55","modified_gmt":"2010-01-13T18:07:55","slug":"for-tom%e2%80%a6one-more-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/219178","title":{"rendered":"For Tom\u2026One More Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"CynthiaCynthia Koehler is Senior Attorney and California Water Legislative Director for EDF.<\/em><\/p>\n

This weekend\u2019s Celebration of the Life of Tom Graff at the Scottish Rite Temple in Oakland was all that one might imagine. Hundreds of Tom\u2019s friends, family, fans, colleagues old and new came together to share favorite stories, fond memories, laughs and of course a tear or two, or more, for California\u2019s foremost eco-Godfather (or Delta Force, as a legal rag once notably labeled Tom). Looking out over the standing-room only crowd filled with public officials, water agency folk, enviros and so many friends, it was impossible not to be struck by Tom\u2019s extraordinary reach and breadth.<\/p>\n

Speaker after speaker noted not only Tom\u2019s braininess, strategic acumen, and analytical skill but also and more critically, the man\u2019s fundamental humanity, his graciousness, kindness, unfailing humor, love of life, family and his fundamental regard for people of all stripes. Not merely an ardent and effective \u201clawyer for fish,\u201d Tom was a listener, a teacher, the one in the room who could find the way to \u2018yes\u2019 without compromising integrity or principle.<\/p>\n

My own association with Tom began more than 20 years ago in a courtroom presided over by a massive pink plastic salmon hung on the wall by a judge determined to keep the lawyers\u2019 collective eyes on the prize. That trial resulted in the famous Hodge flows to protect salmon on the Lower American River, and marked a turning point in California\u2019s water history. The recent Delta legislation may well prove to be another such turning point, and was an effort that Tom followed with intense interest.<\/p>\n

In our conversations about the bill\u2019s progress over the course of the summer and fall, Tom\u2019s focus \u2013 just like all those years ago on the American River — was on the public trust flows, the eco-requirements of the natural world and how to most effectively assure them over time. Certainly Tom did not support the water bond, and was disappointed (as were we all) when the beneficiary pays and fee provisions were excised from the package. But he was quite pleased that through all of the negotiations the bill retained the provision directing the SWRCB to determine the Delta\u2019s public trust needs, and he exhorted us to retain the primacy of the public trust, something the bill does explicitly.<\/p>\n

Tom passed the morning that the Delta legislation was signed, and standing on the levee listening to the Governor give the first of what would be many tributes, it struck me that Tom\u2019s reaction to the final product most likely would have been to grin and say, with his trademark twinkle, \u201cGood job, but let\u2019s get more next time.\u201d Absolutely. Ensuring that the environmental promise of the Delta legislation becomes a reality is perhaps one of best legacies we can strive for in the wake of this extraordinary man<\/p>\n

\n<\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cynthia Koehler is Senior Attorney and California Water Legislative Director for EDF. This weekend\u2019s Celebration of the Life of Tom Graff at the Scottish Rite Temple in Oakland was all that one might imagine. Hundreds of Tom\u2019s friends, family, fans, colleagues old and new came together to share favorite stories, fond memories, laughs and of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4273,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-219178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4273"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=219178"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219178\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=219178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=219178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}