The Power of Two

by Michael Nowlan

This article is intended to be the last in a series of written articles highlighting the namesakes of our FMA awards. I hope that the legacy of the greats within our community will live on and be spoken of well into the future. I personally knew neither of the namesakes of the Hogg Owen Award for Meritorious Achievement in the Floodplain Management Association; James Hogg or H. James Owen. It is my understanding that both were commonly referred to as “Jim” and that helps us to begin to know these men. When informal “nicknames” are how people are known, it definitely broadcasts an atmosphere of approachability and lack of pretense. At the onset of writing this series of articles I was concerned that our memory and our history were being lost. Unfortunately, I was correct. My first “test” for determining the remembrance of each individual is to perform an internet search and see what is preserved in the “world’s library of information”. There are a few noteworthy things that come up when you search for Jim Owen, but Jim Hogg is sadly missing, at least the Jim Hogg of FMA. I didn’t even know that a county in Texas is named “Jim Hogg”! So, what did I do? I did what we should all do when faced with a deficit of information…. turn to colleagues and friends for help! How else do we remember and grow, except by helping each other and sharing our experiences and knowledge? It might even be considered, dare I say it, “associating”. After sending out some inquiries I was able to identify and contact someone who worked with Jim Hogg. His name is Clark Farr.

Now, this article isn’t directly about Clark, but in some ways it is about the “Clarks” of our community. When I asked for his help for describing Jim Hogg his response was “He was my mentor, boss, and good friend. Details may be a bit hard for me to remember, but ask the questions.” That is exactly the spirit I am attempting to foster in all of these articles! While this may be a very brief synopsis of both men’s life accomplishments, both of these men made a deep impression on the folks who led FMA initially, enough to name an award for them. According to Clark, both men became connected through the creation of FMA, as both of them were instrumental in the formation of our wonderful institution.

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Jim Hogg worked for Orange County for approximately 20 years before moving to and working for Kern County in 1985, which is where he met Clark. Clark started in 1988, and worked closely with Jim for about 7 years, until Jim’s passing. One of the biggest projects that Jim worked on was the Caliente Creek Flood Control Project, which unfortunately was never funded. Sometimes we expend a lot of effort without seeing the fruits of our labor. It’s not always about the end result, but the little victories we achieve along the way. Both Jims attended several ASFPM national conferences and knew many of the “power players”, according to Clark, who was introduced by the Jims to the folks with influence on public policy and early CRS scoring committees. As a public servant, on behalf of Kern County’s constituents, Jim Hogg worked on flood mapping issues, the creation of Kern County’s Hydrology Manual, and alluvial fan regulations. Jim Owen worked for a company named Flood Loss Reduction Associates in Palo Alto, California, which he may have founded in 1980 (I would have to pay a fee to release the legal incorporation documents). He authored the "Floodplain Management Handbook" (1981). Google digitized this book and it is available for free as an Ebook. He also worked on other publications, including the "Flood Warning System: Does your community need one?”, prepared for the National Weather Service (1980), “Guide for Flood and Flash Flood Preparedness Planning" (1977), "Evaluation of WQ Models" (1976), and “Cooperative Flood Loss Reduction” (1981).

In the end, Jim Owen and Jim Hogg forged a friendship, which helped forge our association, that has lasted to this day. I would say that meets the definition of meritorious. We are stronger, together, because of men like Jim Hogg and Jim Owen.