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| Kronick
Plays Leading Role in Shaping California Water Law Kronick, Moskovitz, Tiedemann & Girard has been a prominent force in California water law for over 40 years. From its roots representing public entities that manage water resources, Kronick Moskovitz has grown to become a full service law firm comprised of nearly 60 attorneys who advise clients in other areas as well: Business, Construction, Municipal and Public Agency, Public Finance, Employment and Labor, Insurance, General and Class Action Litigation, Education and Redevelopment Law. The firm has continued its tradition of leadership in the field of Water and Natural Resources, advising clients on the laws governing water rights, water quality, drainage and environmental protection. Kronick Moskovitz traces its roots to the meeting of Stanley Kronick and Adolf Moskovitz in 1950, when both served as attorneys for the United States Bureau of Reclamation. There, Kronick and Moskovitz formulated a policy of water allocation that changed the future of water law. This policy was adopted by California’s Attorney General and served as a basis for a landmark United States Supreme Court decision, Ivanhoe Irrigation District v. McCracken, 357 U.S. 275 (1958). Shortly after the founding of the firm of Kronick & Moskovitz in 1959, Edward Tiedemann, a specialist in water law, joined the firm. Fred Girard joined the firm in 1967 after representing the State of California in the trial and appeal of another well known California water law case, United States v. Fallbrook Public Utility District, 347 F.2d 48 (9th Cir. 1965). Early in the firm’s history, Kronick and Moskovitz established a legacy of working with public clients to develop water and hydroelectric resources that have become the backbone of water supply in foothill communities. The firm assisted Placer County Water Agency in the successful development if its water supply and hydroelectric project on the Middle Fork of the American River and also assisted in Calaveras County Water District’s North Fork Stanislaus River project. The firm continues to represent both agencies today, as well as other foothill communities seeking to preserve the water legacy of the forty-niners and plan for the water needs of the burgeoning growth in these regions. The firm has had a statewide influence in California water law. In addition to advising clients on local issues, Kronick Moskovitz has played an integral role in drafting the legislation establishing the Kern County Water Agency, and represents that agency and other State Water Project contractors in matters affecting the State Water Project - the largest state-owned water supply system in the U.S.
Thomas Birmingham, a Moskovitz protege who joined Kronick Moskovitz in 1986 and led the firm’s Natural Resources section from 1991 to 2000, left the firm to become the General Manager/General Counsel of longtime client Westlands Water District. Westlands, which contains some of the most fertile and productive land in the world, consists of nearly 1,000 square miles of prime farmland between the Diablo Range of the California Coast Range mountains and the trough, or lowest point, of the San Joaquin Valley in western Fresno and Kings Counties. Westlands remains one of the firm’s oldest clients and a potent force in California water law and politics. In response to the challenges facing California, Kronick Moskovitz’s natural resources practice has continued to grow. The firm has handled many water transfers and practices regularly in the areas of CEQA litigation, water quality, and groundwater rights and litigation, and continues to advise clients on matters involving the Clean Water Act, land use regulations, and acquisition of water supplies. As a result of the firm’s diverse practice, the natural resources department of Kronick Moskovitz is capable of assisting public and private clients with a wide range of issues related to water and natural resource law. The firm’s construction law practice and public finance practice areas are available for new project development, and its public law and employment law practice areas assist in the day to day issues facing its clients. If you have questions concerning Kronick Moskovitz, please feel free to contact Jon Rubin at 916 321-4500. |
The
scope of Kronick’s water law practice is demonstrated by
the variety of clients and issues addressed by its lawyers. Edward
Tiedemann, one of the firm’s founders, works extensive
on behalf of the Placer County Water Agency. Cliff Schulz
has been deeply involved in developing the institution that will
carry out the water supply and environmental protection programs
of the federal and state partnership called CALFED.
Daniel
O’Hanlon is helping to reshape implementation of
the federal Endangered Species Act. On behalf of farmers who receive
water from the federal Central Valley Project, the nation’s
largest water system, O’Hanlon successfully challenged the
federal government’s failure to consider water and energy
supply impacts caused by the Endangered Species Act. One recent
legal challenge resulted in the first successful substantive challenge
to a decision to list a species under the Endangered Species Act.
San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority v. Badgley, 136 F.Supp.2d
1136 (E.D. Cal. 2000).
Janet
Goldsmith specializes in traditional water rights law
before courts and administrative agencies. She specializes in
representing wineries, other landowners and public agencies in
California’s coastal regions, where the listing of threatened
and endangered fish species threatens to reduce water supplies.
Scott Morris brings 12 years of experience as
a certified professional civil engineer to bear on matters involving
water rights, water transfers, wetlands permitting, hazardous
materials, and mining and development permits.