Holland & Hart LLP

Water Rights
Holland & Hart's lawyers advise and represent a wide variety of clients across the Mountain West Region in all types of water matters, including those involving water rights, water supply development and water quality issues. We effectively represent our clients' interests in federal and state court litigation, including special state water courts, and in contested administrative proceedings before state water officials. We also regularly deal with the federal government concerning water issues that affect our clients.

Our water law practice involves commercial and other transactions that routinely require skilled negotiations and first-rate administrative experience. We handle water rights sales and purchases, and changes in point of diversion, place and purpose of use. We work with federal resource agencies, state water officials, and local governmental boards in all water-related approval and permitting processes. We have obtained required permits, licenses and approvals for construction and operation of everything from new real estate developments to water and hydroelectric projects.

We have substantial experience in federal and state court litigation involving water rights matters across the Mountain West region. Holland & Hart's lawyers have recently represented clients in water matters before the U.S. Supreme Court, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, federal district courts, state appellate courts, and numerous state trial courts, including Colorado's special water courts. We have experience (working closely with the appropriate technical consultants) helping clients involved in the development of water supplies with anticipating and complying with the requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act. Representative recent cases include complex federal litigation concerning the general adjudication of water rights in New Mexico's Rio Pojoaque Basin, representing a Colorado water conservancy district in pursuing federal claims based on reclamation law, and representing the Wyoming State Engineer in instream flow and endangered species litigation with the State of Nebraska.

Our lawyers have also represented state agencies in interstate disputes, federal reserved rights litigation, Endangered Species Act cases, and other water matters. We also often represent water districts and municipalities in complex water matters.

We are involved in many cases in water courts relating to the adjudication of water rights, changes in use, plans for augmentation, and water exchanges.

Holland & Hart's Statement of Commitment to Diversity
We are proud of our tradition of fostering and maintaining a work environment in which the diversity of each individual is valued and celebrated. We believe that the contributions of each individual are essential to our continued growth and to our ultimate goal of providing excellent quality legal services to our clients, with greater creativity and innovation. We are committed to taking full advantage of the rich backgrounds and abilities of our people and to promoting a greater diversity whenever and wherever possible.

Diversity Pledge
Holland & Hart is committed to promoting diversity by:

• Making every possible effort to recruit, hire, retain, and promote diverse persons at all levels of employment.
• Promoting greater sensitivity to the value of racial, ethnic and other forms of diversity, through diversity and sensitivity coaching or training for law firm members.
• Inviting to partnership diverse attorneys who meet the requisite criteria.

Diversity Initiatives
The following are additional examples of our commitment and efforts toward supporting and achieving diversity:

• We make a conscious effort to ensure that women and diverse attorneys are included as voting members of our committees of importance within the firm.
• We work closely with law school deans and placement directors in an effort to identify women and diverse law students who are interested in working at Holland & Hart.
• Holland & Hart offers medical and other benefits to partners of gay and lesbian employees on the same terms as it does to spouses of employees.
• We created an Indian Law Practice Group and actively recruited Native American law students and lateral hires.
• Each year we contribute to such scholarship funds as the Colorado Native American Indian Scholarship Fund, the Sam Cary Scholarship Endowment Fund, the Colorado Asian American Bar Scholarship Fund, the Colorado Hispanic Bar Scholarship Fund, and the Colorado Women's Bar Association Scholarship Fund.
• In partnership with the University of Idaho School of Law, we sponsor a "Law by Day, Jazz by Night" each year for undergraduate minority students who have an interest in law.
• We took a leadership role in organizing and supporting the Colorado Pledge Group's Minority First Year Law Student Summer Clerk Program. Through this program, law firms agreed to add at least one diverse first year law student to their summer clerk program.
• We were involved in the creation of the Cross-Professional Business Networking Group, where diverse attorneys in our community can meet and network with non-attorney professionals of color. We view this as a way to help diverse attorneys increase their business development possibilities.

For more information regarding Holland & Hart's commitment to diversity, please contact Peter Houtsma at (303) 295-8259.