Changing law and policy is critical to enable and support water, environmental, and natural resource management. Our team has decades of experience working with and within federal, state and local government agencies and legislative bodies, including the U.S. Department of the Interior and its various bureaus, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Department of State, state departments of environmental quality and public health, state engineers and water resource agencies, regional water management agencies, and municipal water providers, among others. As part of our work, we have represented clients and coalitions seeking to introduce, respond to, and shape a range of federal and state agency rulemakings and policymaking actions, Congressional legislation, state statutes, and local ordinances.
Representative Experience
- Representing municipalities, municipal organizations, and non-profit organizations on various environmental, water, and fiscal legislation and lobbying efforts at the Arizona, Texas, and Nevada state legislatures.
- Participating in state and federal rulemakings on water, natural resource, and environmental issues on behalf of trade associations, non-profit organizations, and individual stakeholders;
- Managing a non-profit coalition advocating for the adoption of a groundbreaking environmental flow law and other water law and policy changes in the State of Texas.
- Representing a stakeholder group in the development of a comprehensive reform of Arizona's constitutional and statutory framework and related ballot initiatives for the management of 9.3 million acres of state trust lands.
- Representing a statewide coalition of Arizona municipalities in the development of comprehensive reforms to Arizona's development impact fee infrastructure financing system.
- Working with federal, state,municipal, and NGO leaders to develop new operating guidelines under the U.S.Bureau of Reclamation for the management of the Colorado River, including the 2007 Colorado River Shortage Guidelines, the 2019 Colorado River Drought Contingency Plan, and related reservoir operating rules, including the development of supportive hydrologic modeling.
- Leading and supporting state and federal surface water quality standard development, approval, and implementation.
- Developing groundwater planning policy and legislation to protect aquifer systems and secure water supplies for residential and industrial development in Arizona and Texas, and advising and assisting with the proposed reform of groundwater management laws in Nevada.
- Development of proposed state-level rules under the Clean Water Act regulating near-stream recharge of municipal effluent.
- Developing stakeholder-consensus legislation to reform Arizona’s rural groundwater management laws by amending the statewide adequate water supply program.
- Developing proposed legislation to reform Arizona’s surface water laws to allow temporary conservation transactions.