My friend, Dr. Peter E. Black, passed away in May last year, one of three Past Presidents of the American Water Resources Association (AWRA), to die in 2017. This column is a tribute to Peter.

Peter was born and raised in New York City. After earning his PhD. in Watershed Management from Colorado State University he returned to his home state to join the faculty of the College of Environmental Science and Forestry, State University of New York Syracuse (SUNY). He spent his entire teaching and research career at SUNY enriching the lives of thousands of students with his knowledge, enthusiasm, and energy.

Peter and I became friends after I accepted the position of Technical Director of AWRA in 1999. He was a member of AWRA since its beginning in 1963, a member of the Board of Directors in the 1980's and President in 1991. He and I worked together in the early 2000's on a short course on hydrology which he taught for AWRA members. Our friendship thrived because of our respective commitments to AWRA and our shared passion for water resources.

For three years in the early 2000's, Peter did a series of weekly two-minute long broadcasts on all aspects of water for an NPR station in Oswego, New York. These essays were collected in a 2012 book that he titled "Water Drops" which was subtitled "celebrating the wonder of water". The purpose of the broadcasts and book were to educate the public in understandable terms about water and hydrology. I want to conclude this article with several quotes, or "water drops" from the book about our most important natural resource.

"Early space travelers noted that Earth appeared blue because about 70 percent of Earth is covered by ocean. Actually, almost the entire planet is covered with water. No, I'm not crazy; the poles (and many mountains) are covered with snow and ice, and the atmosphere contains lots of clouds and water vapor."

"Weather is the sum of conditions for a relatively short time and a relatively limited area. Climate is the sum of weather over a longer period and of an area or region larger than just the local weather site."

"Hydrology is the study of water in both natural and disturbed environments."

"Floods, of course, occur when the storage capacity of the watershed is full and runs over, just as a glass of water runs over the top if too much water is poured in."

"Nationwide and for all purposes, we withdraw more than 400 billion gallons per day, three-fourths of which is surface water. Over 80 percent is used for irrigation and power production."

"To manage natural resources effectively, it is necessary to practice ecosystem management."

"A gallon of bottled water may cost as much as ten thousand times as much as a gallon of tap water, and may even be tap water!"

"Water is so intimately associated with life that it might be considered our canary in a coal mine. Water underlies all aspects of our lives. So, as we find water resources changing, and identify underlying environmental problems, we need to pay attention."

A final note: During our association, Peter and I discovered that we shared a birthday, but he always called me the youngster because he was one year older. Rest in peace, my friend.