08/28/2026
James "Jim" Reed Waterman
James “Jim” Reed Waterman, 69, of Boulder County, Colorado died on May 13, 2025 after two years in home hospice care. Few knew Jim Waterman well, but if you did, it was profound. He was intelligent, informed, intentional, and extraordinarily conscientious about the natural world and, like all of us, more complex than this brief tribute will convey.
He was born on July 11, 1955, to Emily Louise (née) Morrison and Guy Van Vorst Waterman in the District of Columbia. The youngest of three boys, Jim’s family spent time hiking, camping and enjoying the beauty of the East Coast. He was a steady but not yet serious student and graduated in 1973 from Marlboro High School, Marlboro, New York.
Jim was introduced to rock climbing very early in life. The Shawangunk Ridge aka “The Gunks” was his climbing center, and he was inspired by a group of naked, climbing daredevils known as the “Vulgarians.” His young mind was also entranced by J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, which he would quote at every opportunity. Long before the movies were made, Jim imagined the landscape and drew recreations of Tolkien's maps of Middle Earth. Also as a teenager, he crisscrossed the country powered by his thumb with his possessions on his back. His passion for rock climbing led him to the Rocky Mountains and Boulder. It was true love, and, following high school, Boulder County became Jim’s forever home.
During a hectic Boulder roommate search in 1976, applicants were met by a group of Jim’s astrologer friends who calculated birth charts to determine the contender’s compatibility with Jim and another roommate. The charismatic Kathleen Cassaday was chosen. It was the auspicious start of a 49-year relationship filled with love and admiration, adventure, and countless hours together in the garden. Kathleen and Jim married in 1985, and she was by his side when he took his last breath.
Jim first worked both in kitchens and construction, but soon realized life as an engineer would be more sustainable, and he made the call to enroll at the University of Colorado (CU), Boulder. He was a powerhouse student but truly, it came so easily to him. He graduated with a civil engineering degree in 1985 and became a member of Chi Epsilon, the Civil Engineering Honor Society. Jim was then awarded a Chancellor’s Fellowship, allowing him to add a master’s degree to his resume. Throughout his career he worked for International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Center for Advance Decision Support for Water and Environmental Systems (CADSWES), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and the City and County of Boulder. In 1992, the BLM presented him with The Citizen Award for his contributions.
Jim was also a pioneer of the World Wide Web. The Boulder Community Network (BCN) launched in March 1994 as only the world’s second web-based community Network that brought together local institutions and volunteers to put Boulder-area information and applications online just as the Web was emerging. Jim joined the effort immediately. He became one of BCN’s core technical leaders, serving on its board, coordinating its Technical Committee, and developing its environmental and weather resources.
He later led the technical development of BASIN, the Boulder Area Sustainability Information Network, which brought together water-quality, streamflow, watershed research, maps, and other environmental data from the City of Boulder, the U.S. Geological Survey, and other local partners for public use on the Web. The EPA later used BASIN as a national case study in its 2001 handbook. Delivering Timely Environmental Information to Your Community. He also created DIPP, (Distributed Information Processing Protocol), an early system that allowed BCN’s community volunteers to maintain Web content themselves without having to become Unix system administrators. He remained one of BCN’s mainstays for decades. Jim was immensely proud of both his contributions to BCN and to water resource engineering.
Jim also found peace and contentment in nature. Whether alone or with Kathleen in tow – he traveled in his beloved, trusty Tacoma to access hiking and camping in the back country. He was in awe of arches and spent vacations exploring the Colorado Plateau. On desert hikes Jim would often take long breaks, sit in the shade—freshly rolled cigarette in hand—and take in the beauty of his surroundings.
Back at home, Jim and Kathleen nurtured a bountiful, organic garden. Jim cultivated the soil while Kathleen tended to the plants, and their hard work paid dividends in raspberries, corn, tomatoes, and cucumbers – all of Jim’s favorite fruits and vegetables. Pickling and canning extended the harvest through many months each year.
This story would not be complete without mentioning Jim’s ability to excel at Jeopardy; a dinnertime ritual for him and Kathleen. Not surprising really, because he was knowledgeable on so many topics and had a laser sharp memory. Jim had a “great life of the mind”, and it made for lively and engaging conversations.
He was a man of many talents, known for his ability to tackle projects with precision. His analytical mind anticipated challenges, allowing him to visualize solutions to problems before they arose. Jim could critically dissect the movies he watched and books he read and was a voracious consumer of current affairs which also came under his scrutiny. He kept up with the condition of the Western watersheds, which added to his skepticism that “things were going well” with our planet.
Among the deepest sorrows of Jim’s life was the tragic loss of his older brothers, William “Bill” Antonio Waterman in 1973 and John Mallon Waterman in 1981, both of whom tragically disappeared in the Alaskan wilderness.
Jim was extremely compassionate and could be generous in unusual ways. He was a longtime monthly contributor to KGNU Community Radio – a station to which he faithfully listened. Kathleen asks that you honor Jim's legacy with a gift to the station in his name.
Jim will make his final journey eastward and be interred along with his mother in the Reed family plot at Woodlawn Cemetery, Canandaigua, New York
“Let children walk with nature, let them see the beautiful blending and communion of death and life; their joyous inseparable unity, as taught in woods and meadows, plains and mountains and streams of our blessed star, and learn that death is stingless indeed and as beautiful as life.”
John Muir
Talkeetna Climbers’ Memorial, Alaska
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