Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources

26th Annual Water Law Conference

February 21-22, 2008
San Diego, CA
Hotel del Coronado

Conference Schedule

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Public Service Project (on-site/non-CLE)
Join members of the Water Resources Committee and program attendees for a beach clean up. This is a great opportunity to do some good for yourself, the profession, and the environment. The clean up will take place on Wednesday, February 20, 2008 from 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. at the beach in and around the Hotel Del Coronado. The group will meet at the beach volleyball nets immediately behind the Hotel Del Coronado at 3:00, and proceed from there. If you are interested in participating, please contact one of the Project Co-Chairs Jeremy Jungreis at (949) 477-7635 or Jill Willis at (951) 826-8221 to RSVP and get complete details.

6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Welcome Reception and Early Registration

Thursday, February 21, 2008

7:00 a.m.
Registration and Continental Breakfast

7:30 a.m. – 8:55 a.m.
Water 101: The Fundamentals
A review of the basics, both riparian and prior appropriation, intended to give new practitioners a foundation for the discussions to follow.

Moderator:
Robert Abrams, Professor, Florida A&M University College of Law, Orlando, FL

Panelists:
Stephen G. Bartell, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC
Christopher Rich, U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of the Solitor, Salt Lake City, UT
R. Timothy Weston, Partner, K&L Gates, Harrisburg, PA

9:00 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.
Welcome

Lee A. DeHihns, III, Section Chair, Alston & Bird LLP, Atlanta, GA
Wendy Bowden Crowther, 2008 Water Law Conference Co-Chair, Clyde Snow Sessions & Swenson, Salt Lake City, UT
Jeff Kray, 2008 Water Law Conference Co-Chair, Marten Law Group PLLC, Seattle, WA

9:15 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
Plenary Presentation 1: Out Dammed Spot
Once a decision to remove a dam has been made, what are the requirements for implementing the decision and what are the potential implications? The panel will examine the legal and practical challenges involved in preparing and executing a dam removal agreement, including removal costs; permitting and management steps required to address sediment and flood control issues; and the replacing power generation and water storage resources lost when dams are removed.

Moderator:
Tom Berliner, Duane Morris, LLP, San Francisco, CA

Panelists:
Chuck Bonham, Director, Trout Unlimited, Berkeley, CA
Jock Conyngham, Army Corps of Engineers Environmental Laboratory, Missoula, MT
Julie Keil, Director, Hydropower Licensing, Portland General Electric Co., Portland, OR

10:30 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.
Networking Break

10:45 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Plenary Presentation 2: Interstate Conflicts Over Shared Groundwater Basins
Clearly groundwater aquifers do recognize political state boundaries. As we become more dependant upon groundwater supplies, the questions that arise are how interstate groundwater basins are to be allocated between the states and whether first in time is always first in right. This panel will address issues raised by allocating shared groundwater basins including the federal government’s role in allocating the water resource, the states’ authority to control the shared resource, and the science underlying the dispute.

Moderator:
Christopher H. Meyer, Givens Pursley, LLP, Boise, ID

Panelists:
James Davenport, Special Counsel, Colorado River Commission of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV
John Leshy, Visiting Professor, Harvard Law School, Cambridge, MA
Roger Patterson, Assistant General Manager, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA

12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Keynote Address
In recent years the Bureau of Reclamation has been evaluating its policies and procedures to further define its role in the future of water distribution and use. Commissioner Johnson has been invited to address the role of the Bureau and its position in water supply, distribution, and use in the 21st century.

Robert W. Johnson, Commissioner, Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Department of Interior, Washington, DC

1:45 p.m. – 3:15 p.m.
Breakout Session 1A: Environmental and Economic Pressures on Public Water Supply
Environmental laws and regulations, together with changing public demand for not only water quantity but quality, have created a new set of pressures on public water suppliers. This panel will examine these pressures, including the impacts of climate change, and how public providers continue to meet supply requirements. The panelist will address issues including watershed protection versus treatment, sustainability, and green development.

Moderator:
Rita Maguire, Founder, Maguire & Pearce, PLLC, Phoenix, AZ

Panelists:
Joan Card, Director, Water Quality Division, Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, Phoenix, AZ
Peter W. Culp, Associate, Squire, Sanders & Dempsey LLP, Phoenix, AZ

1:45 p.m. – 3:15 p.m.
Breakout Session 1B: Urban River Restoration
Urban river restorations are occurring across the United States. Restoration comes at significant cost and involves a wide variety of stakeholders that must work cooperatively to succeed in bringing these rivers back. This panel will discuss legal issues that arise from river restoration projects including permitting requirements, controlling discharges, and coordinating the numerous stakeholders involved.

Moderator:
Paul Kibel, Policy West, Alameda, CA

Panelists:
Uwe Brandes, Brandes Partners LLP, Washington, DC
Matt Clifford, Conservation Director and Staff Attorney, Clark Fork Coalition, Missoula, MT
William H. Hyatt, Jr., Partner, K&L Gates, Newark, NJ

3:15 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Networking Break

3:30 p.m. – 4:45 p.m.
Breakout Session 2A: Municipal Water Supplies: How Do We Secure the Future?
Municipalities are charged with securing and holding water supplies for the future growth of the community. Across the country, however, municipalities are facing challenges to their right to hold unused water rights. Growing communities facing water shortages are seeking to have water right released or removed from older, established communities that may be holding water in excess of their need and states are faced with the potential of forfeiting municipal water rights in order to reallocate the resource. This panel will address the tension between municipalities’ obligation to hold water for future growth and the legal requirement that unused water rights be forfeited for reallocation to others.

Moderator:
Charlotte Benson, Senior Assistant City Attorney-Water, City of Tempe, Tempe, AZ

Panelists:
Steven E. Clyde, Director, Clyde Snow Sessions & Swenson, PC, Salt Lake City, UT
Tom McDonald, Partner, Cascadia Law Group, Olympia, WA

3:30 p.m. – 4:45 p.m.
Breakout Session 2B: Water and the Market Economy
As water becomes an increasingly scarce resource, the market has recognized an opportunity for investment and profit. The panel will address what water lawyers need to know about market trends and developments. The panel will explore commoditization of the resource, establishment of water markets, investment potential, and anti-speculation laws.

Moderator:
Reagan L. B. Desmond, Associate, Ball Janik, LLP, Bend, OR

Panelists:
Pat Donoho, International Bottled Water Association (IBWA), Alexandria, VA
Richard E. Howitt, Professor/Chair, Department of Agricultural and Resources Economics, University of California at Davis, Davis, CA
Sandra Zellmer, Professor, University of Nebraska-College of Law, Lincoln, NE

5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Reception

Friday, February 22, 2008

7:15 a.m.
Continental Breakfast

7:45 a.m. – 8:45 a.m.
Ethics: The Revolving Door between Government and Private Practice
Legal practitioners frequently move between government practice and the private sector. This panel will address the ethical issues involved in making such transitions.

Moderator:
Richard M. Frank, Professor, U.C. Berkeley Boalt Hall School of Law, Berkeley, CA

Panelists:
Thomas Sansonetti, Holland & Hart, LLP, Cheyenne, WY
Heather Sibbison, Patton Boggs, LLP, Washington, DC

9:00 a.m. – 10:15 a.m.
Plenary Presentation 3: Winters 100 Years
100 years have passed since the Supreme Court issued its decision in Winters v. United States. On this anniversary we will examine the Winters Doctrine’s reach, including federal reserved rights claims to off-reservation instream flows and the survival of the Practical Irrigable Acreage (PIA) standard.

Moderator:
Tom Gede, Principal, Bingham Consulting Group LLC, Of Counsel, Bingham McCutchen LLP, San Francisco, CA

Panelists:
John EchoHawk, Executive Director, Native American Rights Fund, Boulder, CO
Douglas W. MacDougal, Shareholder, Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt, Portland, OR
Dean B. Suagee, Hobbs Straus Dean & Walker LLP, Washington, DC

10:30 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.
Plenary Presentation 4: ESA and Water Law - The Impact on Water Projects
The Supreme Court recently issued a decision in National Home Builders Association v. Defenders of Wildlife that arguably limits the Endangered Species Act's position as a "superstatute." This panel will focus on the ESA’s current reach, the intersection between the ESA and other environmental statutes, and the ESA’s ongoing impact on water projects.

Moderator:
Thomas R. Wilmoth, Partner, Blackwell Sanders LLP, Lincoln, NE

Panelists:
F. Lorraine Bodi, Senior Advisor for Fish and Wildlife, Bonneville Power Administration, Seattle, WA
Christopher Keifer, Office of General Counsel, Southwest Region, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Long Beach, CA
John Kostyack, Senior Counsel, Director Wildlife Conservation Campaigns, National Wildlife Federation, Washington, DC

12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Hot Topic: International Water Law
As practitioners in the United States, we often fail to understand the significant role that water plays in conflicts throughout the world. Professor Stephen C. McCaffrey, will be our featured speaker for a timely and insightful discussion of international water law.

Moderator:
Stephen C. McCaffrey, Professor, University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law, Sacramento, CA