|
 Center
for Irrigation Technology (CIT) Director David Zoldoske has been tapped
by California State University Chancellor Charles Reed to serve in a new
position as top water policy advisor for the CSU system.
Zoldoske’s appointment comes slightly more than a year after leading
members of the CSU and the state’s agricultural industry determined that
the university system has a significant role to play in helping
California address an ever worsening water situation. Increases in
residential population, combined with successive dry rainfall years,
have left the state with simply not enough water for urban, agricultural
and environmental needs.
According to Reed, the CSU’s Agricultural Advisory Committee encouraged
the CSU to designate an individual who could provide independent and
well-informed applied research and policy analysis on water-related
issues for various agencies and stakeholder groups within California.
Zoldoske was chosen from a pool of candidates representing CSU campuses
across the state.
“Everyone knows we have a serious water problem, and it needs statewide
attention” Zoldoske said in discussing his new role. “As a state, we
have to determine what are our water priorities, and what actions need
to be taken.”
According to Zoldoske, the key to addressing California’s water issues
is a proper understanding of the state’s major thoroughfare for water
use and distribution – the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta.
“The delta supplies water to 22 million people in our state, and it is
facing environmental challenges, including multiple listings of
endangered species,” Zoldoske said. “It is imperative that we maintain
the health of the delta so that it can still be used to meet our water
needs.”
Various entities have control and/or influence over delta water
distribution, Zoldoske noted. They include federal and state agencies,
cities and water districts, and courts. Last fall a federal court
ordered new water release reductions to prevent further erosion of the
delta ecosystem. That reduction will provide Central Valley irrigators
with only 35 percent of normal 2008 allocations, according to the state
Department of Water Resources.
“Another major issue is groundwater overdraft. Some officials estimate
that agricultural and urban users are pumping 1.2 million acre-feet more
per year than is being replenished to our underground aquifers in
California.
“This is especially pronounced in the San Joaquin Valley. It’s like
we’re extracting an amount the size of Pine Flat Lake from the ground
every year, and not putting it back. And the remaining water is deeper
and more expensive to pump,” Zoldoske noted.
One of his key responsibilities will be advising university leaders, the
agricultural industry, and other state leaders on water policy issues
and initiatives developed through the CSU. As leader of a systemwide
effort, Zoldoske will help to coordinate research, service and curricula
that addresses water issues and will oversee efforts to generate
external support for water research, education and service activities.
“We have to develop sustainable water-use practices in California. And
these practices must be based on good science. Part of my job will be to
inventory current research being conducted within the CSU system, to
look for cooperators, to get people together,” Zoldoske said. “We need
to organize all players and seek solutions together as we face these
multiple issues.”
Leaders of water-related research and policy may contact Zoldoske for
more information or discussion at
davidzo@csufresno.edu.
(Copy by Steve Olson of the California
Agricultural Technology Institute at Fresno State.)
|
