Water Rights & Resources

Attorneys in our Water Rights and Resources Practice Group have extensive experience counseling clients on issues involving water rights, wetlands, endangered species and habitat conservation plans. We have represented clients in matters involving riparian, appropriative and overlying water rights, as well as issues pertaining to the unreasonable use and misuse of water, and entitlements under state and federal water contracts. We are leaders in issues arising in exchanges, transfer, sales and leases of water, and water rights. Our attorneys have been active on behalf of clients with respect to local water district allocation programs and their impact on development activities, as well as representing clients in proceedings before state and federal courts and the State Water Resources Control Board. We have developed a wide range of experience in addressing issues relating to the Endangered Species Act. We have routinely appeared before and have worked closely with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the California Department of Fish and Game, the State Coastal Commission, and the State Lands Commission, developing mitigation programs and other measures to comply with local, state and federal environmental laws. Our attorneys have established a record of creativity and ingenuity in solving problems by creating programs that have set the standard for and become models of programs which have been advanced statewide. Finally, our natural resource expertise extends to issues related to recycling and solid waste management, an area in which we have participated in all aspects of the process, from creation of municipal recycling programs to permitting and closure of landfill facilities.