Water

When the Department of Natural Resources, Colorado Water Conservation Board, Denver Water and Greenway Foundation signed an agreement for a reallocation of water to an environmental pool at Chatfield Reservoir, it was the culmination of more than a decade of work to address water scarcity in Colorado. The Brownstein team was critical to making this happen handling all of the complex natural resource issues that arose throughout the course of the project. Designed to store water which can be released as needed, the Chatfield environmental pool will provide multiple benefits to the Denver metro area. From enhancing recreational opportunities and improving water quality to providing additional stream flow to support agricultural needs, the Chatfield environmental pool is a critical step in securing Colorado’s future water resources.

A trusted advisor to the San Diego County Water Authority for more than two decades, we handle all Colorado River and Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) matters, serving as special counsel on program, strategy and rate litigation issues. Our unmatched understanding of the complexities of this client and its business positioned our team to deliver a significant victory for the Water Authority in 2020 when a San Francisco Superior Court awarded $44.4 million in a final judgment for two cases covering 2011-2014 rates paid by San Diego County ratepayers. The case rectified improper charges—which had they continued, would have cost San Diego County residents more than $500 million. The judgment also awarded a 100,000 acre-feet per year increase in the Water Authority’s preferential right to MWD water.

We serve as counsel to the Central Coast Water Authority, a joint powers authority comprised of eight public agencies, that delivers imported State Water Project water to water providers and end users serving more than 80% of Santa Barbara County and also contracting parties in San Luis Obispo County. The Authority also owns and operates the delivery and treatment facilities that make State Water Project water available to California’s central coast. Brownstein advises the board and staff on public agency matters, including compliance with open meeting, state and federal laws, the Public Records Act, CEQA and conflicts. We represent the Authority in public agency meetings, transactions with the California Department of Water Resources and the county regarding the implementation of a long-term water supply contract, as a member of the State Water Contractors, and in litigation.

Blue Forest is a mission-driven, non-profit organization building diverse partnerships and harnessing financial innovation to design sustainable solutions to systemic climate resilience challenges faced by vulnerable communities. Brownstein stepped in to help Blue Forest advance the Forest Resilience Bond, which deploys private capital to finance forest restoration projects on private and public lands that reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire and enhance landscape resilience. Our team helped bring private capital to restore our nation’s forests by providing counsel on U.S. Forest Service partnership models, state and federal environmental laws pertaining to the management of public and private forests, water law and other legal issues.

Tenacious in our pursuit of your goals—inside and outside the courtroom. That’s why, when Serratoga Falls, LLC, needed to place an underground pipeline through a 500-home subdivision development and immediately encountered a complicated lawsuit, they called in our litigation team. They faced 17 claims seeking over $750,000 in damages, disgorgement of profits and injunctions preventing water use and property development. We handled all aspects of the case including filing a counterclaim to obtain court permission to underground an open ditch running through the property. After a seven-day bench trial, the court dismissed all claims, approved the proposed underground pipeline and awarded attorneys’ fees and costs. The Colorado Supreme Court affirmed the lower court’s decision and also awarded partial appellate attorneys’ fees, a complete victory for our client.

The 2003 Quantification Settlement Agreement (QSA) was the cornerstone of a Colorado River Basin states water supply solution, giving California the ability to implement major Colorado River water transfers and allowing the state to live within its 4.4 million acre-foot basic annual water apportionment. Given historical disputes between diverse parties and what was at stake, a decade of litigation followed. The San Diego County Water Authority relied on Brownstein’s natural resources team during the initial negotiation of QSA and it later led the defense of QSA in litigation, ultimately securing a momentous victory for California—validation of QSA and its 11 related agreements and successful defense of all outstanding legal challenges. For San Diego County, the stakes were particularly important: providing long-term water security for the region’s $245 billion economy and quality of life for its 3.3 million residents.

Nearly 40 percent of the Navajo Nation lacks running water or adequate sanitation in their homes. For years, the Navajo Nation fought for their water rights claims and for clean drinking water infrastructure, to advance public health for the Navajo Nation and ensure its members are not more susceptible to severe illnesses such as COVID-19. To begin to address this issue, our Government Relations and Natural Resources teams worked on behalf of the Navajo Nation and alongside the State of Utah for several years to secure passage of the Navajo Utah Water Rights Settlement act, which Congress passed in 2020. The federal legislation provides over $220 million in federal and state funding for drinking water projects on the Navajo Reservation in Utah and resolves the Nation’s water rights claims against the United States and State of Utah.