District Dedicates Richard S. Bowers Conservation Learning Center
On June 14, 2016 the North Plains Groundwater Board of Directors dedicated the district’s classroom and meeting facility at the North Plains Water Conservation Center to Richard S. Bowers. More than 100 of Bowers’ friends and family attended the ceremony announcing the official naming of the Richard S. Bowers Conservation Learning Center. The board voted unanimously in March to honor Bowers for his 35 years of working to steward the groundwater of the region for the present, and for future generations.
Mr. Bowers
passed away on November 14, 2015, leaving a distinguished career dedicated to public service and leadership in water conservation. Mr. Bowers became the general manager of the Panhandle Groundwater Conservation District, located in White Deer in 1979, serving there until he accepted the general manager’s position at North Plains Groundwater Conservation District in 1987.
That same year the district purchased the property where the current North Plains Water Conservation Center operates today. Mr. Bowers managed, lived and raised his family in the district for twenty years before moving to Burnet to assume the general manager position at the Central Texas Groundwater Conservation District in 2007. In August 2011, he officially retired. Even after his retirement he served as interim general manager for the Upper Trinity Groundwater Conservation District in Springtown, Texas in 2014.
Richard Bowers served as president of numerous organizations throughout his career including the Texas Water Conservation Association, Texas Alliance of Groundwater Districts, and National Groundwater Management Districts Association, as well as chairing the Tarleton State University Hydrology Advisory Council.
“The district is honored to dedicate the conservation learning center at the North Plains Water Conservation Center to the memory of Richard Bowers. Mr. Bowers was keenly interested in and led the district in establishing its groundwater conserv
ation education programs,” said Bob Zimmer, Board President.
Contact Steve Walthour at 806-922-7402 (swalthour@northplainsgcd.org) or Kirk Welch at 806-922-7947 (kwelch@northplainsgcd.org) for more information regarding the dedication or other North Plains Groundwater Conservation District programs.