The 27th Annual Water Law Conference in San Diego is set for February 18-20, 2009, at the Hotel del Coronado. This year’s exciting Public Service Program is scheduled for Wednesday, February 18, 2009, from 9:00 a.m. to around 1:00 p.m.

Your help is needed! Volunteers are immediately welcome in two categories:

1. To help draft and/or review the short hypothetical and the 1-2 page outlines that will be provided to the high school students (each stakeholder group).
2. To participate on the morning of Wednesday, February 18, 2009, at the high school (University City High School –UCHS). The ABA SEER volunteers will help the students prepare their presentations for the mock public hearing (Lunch and transportation from and back to Hotel del Coronado will be provided).

Please contact Francine Ffolkes at Francine.ffolkes@dep.state.fl.us or (850) 245-2225. The success of our Public Service Programs as part of ABA SEER’s annual conferences is wholly dependent on the efforts of our volunteers.

The 27th Annual Water Law Conference will focus on change and adaptation at a time when diverse demands on water resources are straining both the availability of this precious resource, and the ways in which established water law can flex to meet changing needs. The conference will focus on changing operations, balancing competing demands, and the legal, technical, and public policy tools available to meet challenges of increased demands on water, water scarcity, and climatic shifts.

There will be four principal focuses at the conference. First, there will be a focus on the re-balancing underway in water law, including defining and delineating the scope of water rights. This will include an in-depth discussion of the negotiation, structure, and implementation of interstate compacts, and the reaches of federal reserved water rights for Indian tribes and federal agencies and how those rights may be applied to groundwater resources. Another focus will be on changes occurring in surface and groundwater management through presentations covering reservoir operations, aquifer storage and recovery techniques, and the effects of the EPA’s NPDES Water Transfers Rule. A third focus will be on adapting to the consequences of climatic change and the increasing competing demands for water resources. This will include panels on the interplay between water and energy, the use of private water trusts to address environmental needs, and the national and global need for innovation and adaptation to address changed climatic conditions and increasing demands during a time of great public deficits. Finally, throughout the conference, there will be a focus on practical legal skills, including a panel addressing the best utilization of experts and consultants.

As in past years, the conference will provide two early morning panels. The first will be a continuation of the series on water law fundamentals, focusing this year on groundwater basics. The second morning panel will address ethical considerations in water law practice and the limits of zealous advocacy.

Who Should Attend

The program is targeted towards lawyers, engineers, policy makers, and water managers with interest in the protection, development, and allocation of water rights and water resources, or thosewho participate in the management of surface and groundwater resources. It will be of value to all persons involved in water right issues, including those with private, municipal, agricultural, and tribal water rights. The conference is open to any interested persons, and is not limited to lawyers.

Program Highlights:

• Keynote presentation by the Honorable Gary King, Attorney General of the State of New Mexico
• Keynote presentation by John Leshy, member of President Obama's Interior Department transition team and former solicitor at the U.S. Department of the Interior, during our Friday Hot Topics luncheon session
• Owen Olpin, Former Farr Professor of Law at the University of Utah, and Special Master overseeing Nebraska v. Wyoming
• Thomas A. Zlaket, Former Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court
• Project perspectives from participants from some of the largest, global, and fully integrated engineering and technical services firms
• Presentations by representatives of the U.S. Department of the Interior, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and Bureau of Reclamation
• Insights from leading lawyers and academics practicing and teaching in adapting water law to meet new challenges
• Presentations by representatives of leading land and water trusts working to protect and preserve an environmental heritage

Your organization’s support can help offset the costs of hosting a premier conference. Several different support levels are available to meet different needs. If you would like more information about sponsorship opportunities, please contact, Fawziah Ahmad, Assistant Director, ABA Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources, at (312) 988-5791 or via email at AhmadF@staff.abanet.org.

The Water Resources Committee focuses primarily on substantive and practice developments that impact water allocation and availability. These fall into a broad spectrum of subject areas, including state water law; federal and tribal water law; issues arising under the Endangered Species Act and the Clean Water Act; interstate allocation of water; the Public Trust Doctrine; reserved water rights; state, local and municipal planning of water supplies; and federal reclamation law. The Committee provides information to its members through several means, including the annual Water Law Conference; the Committee newsletter; brown bag programs and other forms of programming not involving formal conferences; solicitation of books and of articles for Trends and Natural Resources and Environment; and its contribution to The Year in Review.

Annual Section Sponsors

Program Sponsors
 

Senior Priority Sponsor

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Watershed Sponsors
ENTRIX, Inc.

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Program Co-Sponsors
Conference of Western Attorneys General
Native American Rights Fund
Western States Water Council

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Law Firm Sponsors

K&L Gates LLP

Stein & Brockman, P.A.