WATER SUPPLY PERMITTING/WATER RIGHTS: DESCRIPTION

The competing demands for water rights for public water supply and agricultural and commercial purposes have generated a complex body of statutory and case law. With offices on both the east coast and the west coast, McKenna Long & Aldridge is well versed in both the law of riparian rights and equitable apportionment and the law of prior appropriation.

We regularly assist clients in acquiring water rights for a wide variety of beneficial uses. For example, we represent the State of Georgia in negotiations with Florida and Alabama over the allocation of the waters from two major river basins originating in Georgia, and we assist in the acquisition of water rights for industrial and governmental clients and for new and existing developments, including golf courses. As clients expand or change their operations, we also assist them in assuring their water rights continue to meet their needs. This includes transferring water rights and obtaining regulatory approval for changes in water uses.

For public and private water supply systems and for many businesses and industries, water is essential. We help these clients develop long-range management plans to assure they have the water they need and that they remain good environmental stewards by meeting their obligations under the Clean Water Act and by implementing aggressive conservation measures.

In addition to acquiring water rights, water users are confronted with other permitting challenges. Such challenges include the need to obtain wetlands permits under section 404 of the Clean Water Act and similar state laws and to consider impacts to stream flows, water quality and fish and wildlife. Additionally, we advise clients on the rights of owners to the bed and banks of watercourses and to the water in them; the right to impound and divert water; the rights of property owners on flood defense and land drainage issues, including compensation for work undertaken pursuant to statutory powers; and navigation rights.

As demand exceeds supply, conflicts between and among competing water users are inevitable. When negotiation cannot be used to resolve a particular conflict successfully, litigation may be the only means of protecting a client's water rights. We represent state and local governments, developers and industries in litigation in the courts and in contested case proceedings before administrative tribunals.