Water & Waste Water

The attorneys in the Lewis Brisbois Water Practice comprise a preeminent group of professionals that are widely recognized as authorities in this complex area of law. Working in tandem with related practices in the firm, particularly real estate, public agency, and environmental, our depth and breadth of experience in this field is unparalleled.

The Water & Waste Water Practice advises and assists private and public entities involved in the environmental sector, with particular emphasis on water conservation and management, wastewater treatment and recycling, stormwater solutions, and groundwater remediation, including:

Water Quality: Representing clients before the State and Regional Water Quality Control Boards;
Water Rights: Including groundwater basin adjudications and other water rights litigation and transactions, as well as defense of landowner water rights, particularly in agricultural areas;
Wastewater Law: Providing general counsel, litigation and transactional services to wastewater agencies;
NEPA and CEQA Processes: Obtaining permits from the Army Corps of Engineers, Department of Fish & Game, and Regional Water Quality Control Boards for streambed alteration agreements;
Water Transfers: Structuring of water transfers between rural and urban areas.

Representative Matters

Successfully litigated agricultural interests in overturning the largest ever water transfers in the Western United States;
Successfully represented the Government of Mexico and the State of Baja California in obtaining an injunction against the lining of the All American Canal;
Currently Represent the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts in recycled water purchase agreements, water rights adjudications, and water quality matters, including prosecuting Clean Water Act violations.;
Represented non-governmental entities in challenging a major rural-to-urban water transfer in Imperial Valley, California;
Successfully represented developers in securing water rights in adjudication actions.