Daniel M. Dooley is principal of New Current Water and Land, LLC, which provides strategic planning services for water supply and water management projects, as well as agricultural investments, in California. Prior to New Current, Dan served the University of California for seven years, first as Vice President – Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources and then as Senior Vice President External Relations. Dan’s External Relations responsibilities included directing the University offices of State and Federal Government Relations, Alumni Affairs and Institutional Advocacy, and Communications. He reported directly to the President of the University of California System.
Before his tenure with the University, Dan distinguished himself as an agricultural and environmental attorney with extensive experience in California. He was a partner at Dooley, Herr and Peltzer, LLP, a law firm emphasizing agricultural, environmental, business and water rights law, where he represented both public agencies and private parties on water-related matters. He was recognized for successfully bridging environmental and economic considerations in a number of controversial legal cases. Dan was also a partner from 1980-2002 in the family-owned Dooley Farms, a diversified San Joaquin Valley farming operation producing cotton, alfalfa and walnuts, which continues operation under next generation family management.
Dan previously served as Chief Deputy Director of the California Department of Food and Agriculture (1977-80) and Chair of the California Water Commission (1982-86). He has served on the National Academy of Sciences, Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources, the Western Rural Development Center Board, and the Board of Trustees of Children’s Hospital Central California, which he chaired. He currently serves on the Board of Sustainable Conservation.
In 2007, Dan was cited by California Lawyer magazine’s Lawyer of the Year publication for his work to achieve settlement of two-decades-old litigation relating to the San Joaquin River. In 2004, he was inducted into the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service Research Hall of Fame. He also received the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Award of Distinction in 2000.
He is married to Diana and has two grown children, Megan Hargraves and Katharine Dooley.