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13
50 Years: The Department of Boating and Waterways, 1957 to 2007
Through 2007, Cal
Boating has provided
$88.5 million for
public access boating
facilities in state
parks, on lakes of the
State Water Project
and other state lands.
Department obtains authority to construct “capital
outlay” boating facilities on state-owned or controlled
land, including all boating facilities within the
California State Parks system and on the State Water
Project. Boating facilities at Lake Oroville, Folsom Lake,
Del Valle Reservoir, San Luis Reservoir, Pyramid Lake,
Castaic Lake, Perris Lake, Lake Tahoe, and other areas
will be built with Cal Boating funds.
DE V E L OP I NG QUA L I T Y P R O GR A M S
Bill Satow
Department Economist, 1967–1969
Boating Facility Division Chief,
1969–1983
Assistant Director, 1983–1991
Acting Director, 1992
Bill Satow has certainly seen a lot of changes during his 25 years with
Cal Boating. This long-time public servant has been around water
agencies his entire career, starting out at the California Department
of Water Resources, where Bill worked for eight years as an economist.
In 1967, Bill transferred to Cal Boating, largely because it was a
smaller department, and he liked the idea of working with a close
knit group of people. He conducted feasibility studies on many Cal
Boating projects, including marina loans, harbor developments and
boat launching facilities, looking into both the financial and economic
benefits and justification for each one.
Under the guidance of outstanding directors and commissioners, Bill
had a wide variety of responsibilities at Cal Boating during his tenure
as the department’s economist, boating facilities division chief and
assistant director, and later as acting director. His biggest challenges
came from working through the legislative process to get projects
approved for funding and construction.
“I took pride in the standardization of project design and guidelines for
construction that were formulated while I was at Cal Boating,” notes
Bill. “The quality of construction at boat launch facilities and
...1966