Natural Resources
Water Rights and Wastewater Management

 

Many of our attorneys are experts in the law of groundwater and surface water quality and appropriation and advise clients regarding their right to use and discharge that water.

We represent municipal and private sector clients in the Arizona water rights General Adjudication litigation and participate in water settlement negotiations/litigation with the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, the Fort McDowell Indian Community, and the San Carlos Apache Tribe. Most recently, we participated in finalizing the water rights settlement with the Gila River Indian Community.

The Firm works with municipalities to create, adopt, and continually update pretreatment programs and local ordinances to comply with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's standards and permits. We also advise public sector clients on the development and implementation of storm water management plans and practices and participate in permitting and compliance negotiations on their behalf with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.

Attorneys of the Firm helped structure an intergovernmental agreement between a town and irrigation district to establish a mutually beneficial partnership for water management in that area. This IGA ended years of disagreement between the two parties over their rights to withdraw and serve water and the extent of their service areas.

Our attorneys participated in the negotiation and drafting of an agreement between an irrigation district (the Firm's client), six cities, and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Pursuant to this agreement, the cities receive the district's allocation of Central Arizona Project water, the Bureau satisfies its Cliff Dam replacement water obligations to the cities, and the district is relieved of its debt incurred to build a CAP water distribution system.

Attorneys of the Firm also prepared the first IGA regarding water transfers in Arizona. This agreement made a Valley city the owner of lands and associated water rights located within a Pinal County irrigation district and gave the city the right to transfer the land's water to the city for assured water supply purposes. In return, the district received financial support from the city and support of the district's tax base. The issue of water transfers later became a subject of debate state-wide.