Hall Of Fame Inductees

 

The individuals nominated should have made a significant impact or positive influence that assures the future of our industry in the lives of generations to come.

 

Once nominated, an individual’s biography and photo are updated on the site, and he or she is placed in the polls for voting. At the end of the year the committee takes into consideration the votes and decides which candidates are inducted.

 

Those with a star (*) next to their name below were either inducted posthumously or have passed away since being inducted.

 

Nomination Qualifications

  • Person with integrity and passion
  • Minimum 20 years in industry
  • Someone who has developed  or invented  new technology
  • Has made contributions that resulted in change
  • Contributed to mankind’s needs in his field
  • Provided education and encouragement  with self-sacrifice
  • Changed the industry

David Pagano

Founder / Owner d.d. Pagano, Inc.

 

Dave Pagano started his "irrigation career" in the summer of 1957. After starting college in the fall of 1956, following graduation from Anaheim High School, Dave learned quickly that he needed to find a job to help cover living expenses. So, he went to work for the City of Anaheim Parks and Recreation Department as a draftsman working under the City’s Park Development Coordinator, Dick Kamphefner. Anaheim was just starting to design and develop new parks within the City and Mr. Kamphefner told Dave that it would be his responsibility to design the irrigation system for one of the new park sites.

After leaving the City in 1961, Dave transitioned to a new job as an irrigation designer for Nees Turf Supply Company, where his designs were provided to customers for free. Providing free irrigation designs was the norm for this time period in the irrigation industry. While at Nees Turf Supply, Dave moved from irrigation designer, to inside sales representative, to outside sales representative and over the course of six years, he worked closely with and for irrigation equipment manufacturers and distributors. Dave also had the opportunity to work with George Moody. George developed one of the first automatic sprinkler controllers

in 1927.

In 1967, Dave went to work for Pacific Coast Irrigation, a large irrigation contracting firm. Dave’s experience with Pacific Coast irrigation included three years as head estimator. In addition to estimating, other duties included field supervision, material take-offs, as-built drawings and system layout and staking. Projects included golf course irrigation system installations, Cal-Trans freeway irrigation system installation, large municipal park irrigation system installations as well as a wide variety of miscellaneous irrigation system installations.

These life experiences in the irrigation industry provided Dave the opportunity to start a professional irrigation consulting firm with longtime friend and mentor, Paul Kesterson, and in the summer of 1970, the professional irrigation consulting firm of Kesterson/Pagano Associates was formed. In 1974, due to the economy, Paul and Dave split and went their separate ways and Dave went on to establish d.d. Pagano, Inc., Irrigation Consultants.

In the early 1970’s, Dave became one of the charter members of the Southern California Chapter of the American Society of Irrigation Consultants (ASIC). He has served as both the local and national president in the past. In 1994, the ASIC elevated Dave to the status of fellow. He is still an active member of ASIC and is the only charter member of the So Cal chapter of ASIC to still practice his profession. Dave was also an appointee to the Orange County Water Conservation Task Force, an advisory group directed by the Board of Supervisors to develop water conservation policy/ordinance for the County of Orange.

Dave Pagano has provided professional services for over 40 years in development and research in the field of irrigation. Irrigation design development, product research and testing, water conservation analysis, system analysis and construction methods are only a few of the services that have made Dave Pagano and d.d. Pagano, Inc. Irrigation Consultants a recognized leader in the field of irrigation consulting. This knowledge and experience is reflected in all irrigation designs - designs which are geared to provide the end user with the most efficient, innovative and cost-effective irrigation system possible.

Dave and his staff have provided expertise in the field of irrigation design and consultation for a variety of projects with special interest in the design of resorts, residential communities and commercial developments. His office has worked closely with many communities and commercial developers to determine the specific irrigation needs of each development, as well as long term maintenance requirements. This information has been compiled in order to help develop irrigation design and construction criteria compatible with the environmental conditions of various resort/commercial projects. In addition to design and consultation work for resort/commercial projects, his firm has provided design and consultation work for mitigation of plant restoration and wildlife habitat areas. All projects draw upon a variety of irrigation design concepts and methods to meet every need.

Over the years, some notable irrigation design projects prepared by d.d. Pagano, Inc., under Dave’s guidance and leadership are, Disney Animal Kingdom, Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida; Legoland, Carlsbad, California; Disney’s California Adventure, The Disney Resort, Anaheim, California; The Hong Kong Disney Resort, Hong Kong China; PGA West 5,000 unit, 1,400 acre golf community; the 5,000 acre Rancho Santa Margarita community in south Orange County and Shady Canyon (2,000 acres) residential Community in Irvine, California just to name a few. Currently, d.d. Pagano, Inc. is preparing irrigation master planning and irrigation construction documents for the new Shanghai, Disney Resort in Shanghai, China.