Wetlands and Water Law

Public and private water companies face a number of unique issues, risks, and regulations, necessitating a knowledgeable legal partner. As a full-service law firm with offices located strategically across the country, our water rights team offers clients comprehensive coverage for all their water needs. With a sensitivity to both public and government relations, our lawyers regularly assist clients with transactional, development, compliance, due diligence investigations, crisis response, litigation, and other legal support related to wetlands, water utilities, and water law issues.

We have represented utilities, municipalities, water districts, and water providers of all types and sizes in acquiring and managing water resources, as well as overcoming administrative and judicial challenges.

We have likewise represented commercial developers and energy developers in connection with due diligence investigations, water supply acquisition, and regulatory compliance at the local, state, and federal levels. We advise clients on the complex regulation of wetlands and floodplains, particularly in connection with real estate development and related administrative or legal enforcement. We also help private entities work with governmental agencies to address regulations governing development near jurisdictional waters, wetlands, and floodplains.

Our core services include legal support related to the following:

• Federal Clean Water Act
• State, federal, and municipal permitting and compliance
• Water rights, including Indian water rights
• Water supply and acquisition
• Water quality
• Wetlands, floodplains, rivers, lakes, and bottomlands
• Stormwater, soil erosion, and sedimentation
• Well drilling and permitting, including well-sharing agreements
• Sewer systems
• Litigation involving these matters before administrative, state, and federal tribunals

Representative Case Matters

• Represented special taxation districts, including irrigation and electrical districts, in all legal matters related to the acquisition, management, and use of water resources for agricultural, domestic, and industrial purposes.
• Represented a municipal water utility in acquiring new water supplies to balance its portfolio and meet demands associated with development within its service area.
• Represented a mining trade association in state and local regulatory rulemakings involving water quality.
• Represented water and wastewater utilities in administrative and judicial challenges involving another provider’s inadequate and unsafe services.
• Represented developers and municipalities in successful applications for wetlands and water-interface permits, as well as appeals of permit conditions and denials.
• Assisted clients in securing state agency permits for the construction and operation of water-related infrastructure, including wells, pipelines, groundwater savings facilities, and groundwater recharge facilities.
• Provided legal support in securing water supplies for multiple utility-scale solar projects in the Southwest.
• Represented a commercial developer against claims that its construction activities interfered with an adjacent landowner’s access to irrigation water and underlying water rights.
• Represented a mining company in administrative and judicial challenges involving a Clean Water Act Section 402 pollutant discharge elimination system permit.
• Successfully defended a challenge to Clean Water Act wastewater treatment plant permit provisions involving phosphorus and nitrogen discharges.
• Served as a member of a federal litigation team handling civil enforcement of Clean Water Act Section 404 wetlands protections.
• Successfully negotiated with state and local agencies in Michigan and California regarding the need for and scope of PFAS and PFOS testing associated with former industrial and landfill operations. The team also conducted upstream analyses in response to PFAS and PFOS detections in local government water and sewer systems.