Kings County's farming sector has another friend in high places.

The University of California Regents' decision Thursday to name Daniel Dooley as the new vice president of agriculture and natural resources programs marks the second consecutive time that a Hanford High School graduate has occupied the position.

"It's probably not common that you get people from the same high school following each other in these types of positions," Dooley said.

Dooley, an older brother of former area Congressman Cal Dooley, follows the tenure of W.R. Gomes, another Hanford product. Gomes retired in May after 11 years on the job.

Dooley was a partner in family-owned Dooley Farms, managing cotton, alfalfa and walnuts in Kings and Tulare counties. He is currently a partner at Dooley, Herr and Peltzer, a Visalia-based law firm emphasizing agricultural, environmental, business and water rights law.

Dooley, effective Jan. 2 next year, will head up the UC Cooperative Extension, a program designed to bring the university's research to bear on practical situations faced by California farmers and ranchers.

The extension program ties in the campuses of UC Berkeley, Davis and Riverside to a network of 50 regional and county offices throughout the state. The Kings County office includes farm advisers for cotton, dairies, tree orchards and other crops, as well as administrators of the county's 4-H program.

The statewide system includes 1,000 faculty, specialists and other advisers and an annual budget of $300 million, according to a UC press release.

The program has aided Kings County farmers in areas such as water conservation, insect management and genetic engineering for better crop yields.

"Dan definitely understands the nature of the value and the critical use for agriculture ... and the activities assigned to the UC Cooperative Extension office," said Bob Beede the Kings County adviser for grapes, tree fruits and nut crops.

Dooley said he wants to make sure that UC work is relevant to "problems on the ground that people are experiencing."

The chief problem currently is water shortages. The Kings County Board of Supervisors is in an ongoing state of emergency due to reduced water supplies from the Sacramento River Delta.

The cutback was ordered by a federal judge to protect the Delta smelt, an endangered fish.

Dooley said the extension will "help policy makers learn how to operate the Delta to ensure adequate water supplies."

He said agriculture is generally doing "very well," but he said the smelt decision has "cast a cloud" over the industry's short-term health.

Dooley said he currently represents clients in Kings County on water issues. He participated in the recent settlement that ended years of litigation over restoring flows to the San Joaquin River for salmon runs.

Local farming interests expressed interest in how Dooley's appointment might influence Central Valley issues.

Beede said he looked forward to Dooley "beating the drum" for the role of the agricultural extension.

He said that the extension's effect on the local economy is "in the multimillion dollar range." He cited a new walnut growing technique he said has increased grower income $8 million over a two-year period.

The extension program has faced "big reductions" in recent years, Beede said.

"There's a lot of challenges that the university system faces in terms of the acquisition of adequate funding (and) the downsizing of the extension system," he said.

Bruce Roberts, J.G. Boswell professor of agronomy at CSU Fresno and former Kings County extension adviser, called the extension program "very crucial" to keeping central California agriculture "competitive in the global market."

Roberts said he looks forward to the extension focusing on Central Valley issues and their importance.