Somach Simmons & Dunn | Attorneys at Law
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Danielle Fatta has joined Somach, Simmons & Dunn, where she will work on a wide range of matters for Somach, Simmons & Dunn clients, with a particular focus on projects involving CEQA ... read more
Chapman University Fowler School of Law graduate Max Thiele has joined Somach, Simmons & Dunn, where he will assist clients on the gamut of environmental and natural resources issues, including ... read more
The Northern California Water Association has selected Ellen Moskal as part of its 2025 Norcal Water Leaders Program. Ellen will be among a group of regional water leaders who will embark ... read more
The California Legislature and state agencies approved over 1,000 new laws and regulations which will go into effect in 2025, including a State Water Resources Control Board (State Board) regulation ... read more
In a November 12, 2024, opinion, for Marin Audubon Society v. Federal Aviation Administration, No. 23-1067 (D.C. Cir. 2024), the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals held, of its own initiative, ... read more
On November 14, 2024, the seven members of the Surface Water Coalition (SWC) and nine Ground Water Districts (GWDs) spanning the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer (ESPA) finalized the “2024 Stipulated ... read more
The First District Court of Appeal (Div. 4), in the partially published People of the State of California ex rel. Rob Bonta Attorney General v. County of Lake (2024) ___Cal.App.___ ... read more
The limits to federal jurisdiction over “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) have continued to develop following the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency, as federal ... read more
This alert follows up on a prior alert detailing the Idaho Department of Water Resources’ (IDWR) May 30, 2024 order (Curtailment Order) directing the curtailment of certain ground water rights ... read more
During the height of the 2022 drought, ranchers in Siskiyou County diverted Shasta River water in violation of the State Water Resources Control Board’s (SWRCB) Klamath River Watershed Drought Emergency ... read more
The Sixth Appellate District Court of Appeal, in Center for Biological Diversity v. County of San Benito (July 24, 2024, Nos. H051322, H051323) ___Cal.App.5th___ (originally unpublished but ordered published on ... read more
Somach Simmons & Dunn, a mid-size natural resources law firm based in Boulder, CO and Sacramento, CA, is seeking a 2-4 year associate attorney with water rights litigation experience, preferably in ... read more
Congratulations to Louinda Lacey on her recent election to the Board of Governors of California Women Lawyers. Her term begins on Jan. 1, 2025, and she'll be sworn in by Chief ... read more
Nearly a half-century after its formal start, Oregon’s Klamath Basin Adjudication (KBA) is lurching toward a significant milestone: a judgment in the trial court. Oregon’s water rights adjudication law establishes ... read more
Somach, Simmons and Dunn’s Stuart Somach has been named The Best LawyersⓇ 2025 Energy Law "Lawyer of the Year" in Sacramento. For over 40 years, Best Lawyers has been esteemed ... read more
The Washington State Bar Association has admitted Somach, Simmons & Dunn Shareholder Aaron Ferguson. A respected water law attorney, his expertise in the field is the result of a unique ... read more
In 1937, the U.S. Congress authorized the Colorado-Big Thompson Project (CBT), a complex transbasin diversion project that diverts water from the headwaters of the Colorado River on the Continental Divide’s ... read more
As California’s climate continues to experience prolonged, intense drought years, California water utilities must now balance the need to conserve water against the financial demands required to run a profitable ... read more
On June 28, 2024, the Supreme Court of the United States (Supreme Court) issued a decision in Loper Bright Enterprises, et al. v. Raimondo, Secretary of Commerce, et al., No. ... read more
In Legislature of the State of California v. Weber, S281977 (Cal. S. Ct., filed Sept. 26, 2023), a unanimous California Supreme Court ordered a citizen tax initiative removed from the ... read more
On June 20, 2024, the Sacramento County Superior Court stopped the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) from undertaking further geotechnical investigations implementing the Delta Conveyance Project (DCP) until DWR ... read more
The phrase “Waters of the United States” (or “WOTUS”) is a contender for the five words that have been subject to the most judicial and executive whiplash since 1972. Under ... read more
On May 30, 2024, the Director of the Idaho Department of Water Resources (IDWR) issued a Final Order Curtailing Ground Water Rights Junior to March 31, 1954 (Curtailment Order) as part ... read more
On May 23, 2024, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a 68-page decision in NRDC, et al. v. Haaland, et al. (Case No. 21-15163), which affirmed the district court’s ... read more
A prior alert provided an overview of various administrative matters before the Idaho Department of Water Resources (IDWR) that share a common theme: increasing the regulation of pumping by junior ... read more
