Fresno State has named Dr. David Zoldoske the new executive director of water initiatives at the university, where he will help guide water technology, resource management and policy for the school.

---

“The need for further innovation continues to increase, accelerated by water shortages, so we want to expand our curriculum, internships and career opportunities across all disciplines to train the best and brightest students to help secure our water future,” Zoldoske said. “We’re looking forward to expanding Fresno State’s reputation as engaged in all things water with an international impact.”

Zoldoske has served as the director of the Fresno State Center for Irrigation Technology, an independent testing laboratory, since 1994. His expanded role was among several action items recommended in President Joseph Castro’s Water Task Force report that was released in May 2015. 

Other initiatives being implemented or in the planning process include:

• Establishing Fresno State’s California Water Institute as the “front door” for all water-related activities on campus, including direct linkages to the Center of Irrigation Technology, the Water-Energy Technology Incubator and the International Center for Water Technology.

• Establishing a regional Center for Disadvantaged Communities that addresses access to clean drinking water among other challenges. 

• Developing water and energy technology demonstration facilities on the 1,000-acre University Agricultural Laboratory to improve water and energy use efficiency, provide on-site water treatment for dairy and winery operations and promote the use of reclaimed or recycled water.

The campus task force included Zoldoske and 18 other faculty, staff and area government representatives. 

As a Fresno State graduate in agricultural economics, Zoldoske began his irrigation career as a student research assistant before being hired as a full-time research technician in 1983.

In addition to his role with the Center for Irrigation Technology, he has served as vice chair of the California Department of Water Resources strategic planning caucus for New Water Technology, was a member of the California Department of Food and Agriculture Nitrogen Tracking and Reporting Task Force and was co-chair of the Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance committee established by AB 1881. 

Zoldoske was named “person of the year” in 2015 by the California Irrigation Institute and in 2013 by the Irrigation Association. He is a senior fellow with the California Council on Science and Technology and an honorary member of the American Society of Irrigation Consultants.