Vance Anderson of Hastings has been selected to receive The Groundwater Foundation's 2009 Maurice Kremer Groundwater Achievement Award.
The Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Tuesday, July 7, 2009 12:00 am
With a life dedicated to prudent irrigation development in Nebraska, Vance Anderson of Hastings has been selected to receive The Groundwater Foundation's 2009 Maurice Kremer Groundwater Achievement Award.
The 99-year-old will be honored at a private event in late July.
Named in honor of the late state Sen. Maurice Kremer, the award was established in 1985 to recognize Nebraskans who have made a substantive contribution to the conservation and protection of the state's groundwater.
"He has always been a kindred spirit, enthralled and always curious about the wondrous nature of Nebraska's water resources," said Jim Goeke, a research hydrogeologist with the University of Nebraska Conservation and Survey Division. "I can't imagine anyone more deserving of this award."
According to a foundation news release, the Anderson family has been intertwined with Nebraska's water resources as they struggled to ingeniously irrigate their fields.
In 1908, Vance's grandfather, Mads, invented and patented the land roller to help prepare better seed beds. Then in 1911, he moved his family to Hastings to start the Western Land Roller Co., which made hay stackers, sweeps and eventually 6-inch centrifugal pumps and deep well turbine pumps.
Anderson headed up pump sales for Western Land Roller Co. from 1940 until he retired in 1979. He is a past secretary of the Nebraska Water Resources Association and a former chairman of the public advisory board to the Nebraska Department of Water Resources.
He is an honorary life member of the Nebraska Well Drillers Association and served 25 years on its board. He is also a past board member of the State Irrigation Association, was the first chairman of the Nebraska Water Conference Committee and was a board member for the Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District.