LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION commending Paul O. Swartz upon the occasion of
his retirement after 14 years of distinguished service as Executive
Director of the Susquehanna River Basin Commission

WHEREAS, This Legislative Body seeks to acknowledge those individuals
whose professional lives and civic endeavors serve to enhance the stat-
ure of the State of New York; and
WHEREAS, This Legislative Body is justly proud to commend Paul O.
Swartz upon the occasion of his retirement after 14 years of distin-
guished service as Executive Director of the Susquehanna River Basin
Commission; and
WHEREAS, Paul O. Swartz is a 1970 graduate of Gettysburg College with
a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology, and has done graduate work in
public administration at Pennsylvania State University; and
WHEREAS, Since 1992, Paul O. Swartz has served as the Executive Direc-
tor of the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC), a regulatory,
federal/interstate compact commission vested with the responsibility for
management and control of the water resources of the 27,500 square mile
Susquehanna River basin, which drains portions of New York, Pennsylvania
and Maryland; and
WHEREAS, As Executive Director, Paul O. Swartz was responsible for
directing all activities of the Commission, including a water supply
program which helps ensure that adequate supplies of water will be
available to domestic, municipal, industrial, agricultural and in-stream
users in the future; and
WHEREAS, In addition, Paul O. Swartz was in charge of the Commission
programs in the areas of flood protection, flood plain management and
restoration of migratory fish to the Susquehanna River; he also directed
the Commission's water quality program, which benefits the Chesapeake
Bay; the Susquehanna River supplies nearly half the fresh water entering
the Chesapeake Bay; and
WHEREAS, Paul O. Swartz has served as a member of several Chesapeake
Bay Program committees and has chaired the Monitoring Subcommittee; and
WHEREAS, Before joining the SRBC in 1992, Paul O. Swartz directed the
Bureau of Soil and Water Conservation in Pennsylvania's Department of
Environmental Resources; in this capacity, he managed the Commonwealth's
Chesapeake Bay Program and its Soil Erosion and Sedimentation Control
Program; and
WHEREAS, From 1982-1992, Paul O. Swartz served as Executive Secretary
to the Pennsylvania Conservation Commission, a state agency which estab-
lishes policy for Pennsylvania's 66 conservation districts; and
WHEREAS, Furthermore, in 1991, Paul O. Swartz represented Pennsylvania
on the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin and chaired that
Commission; and
WHEREAS, Paul O. Swartz is a past president of the National Associ-
ation of Conservation Administrators (NASCA), a professional organiza-
tion of the heads of state conservation agencies; and
WHEREAS, Between 1974 and 1981, Paul O. Swartz served as the first
full-time executive director of the Dauphin County Conservation
District; he then worked for the Joint Legislative Conservation Commit-
tee, a special bipartisan committee of the Pennsylvania General Assem-
bly; and
WHEREAS, For the past 14 years, Paul O. Swartz rendered faithful,
conscientious and valuable service to the SRBC; and
WHEREAS, In his capacity as Executive Director, Paul O. Swartz served
with loyalty, honor and distinction, and was governed by a keen sense of
duty and always showed a unique grasp of human problems; and

WHEREAS, During his tenure Paul O. Swartz earned the admiration,
esteem and affection of his colleagues; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
honor Paul O. Swartz upon the occasion of his retirement after 14 years
of distinguished service as Executive Director of the Susquehanna River
Basin Commission; and be it further
RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to Paul O. Swartz.