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  David R. E. Aladjem

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David R. E. Aladjem

Partner
Sacramento

Contact Info:
Email: Send an email
Phone: (916) 444-1000
Fax: (916) 444-2100

Practice Areas:
Water

Additional Areas of Expertise
NEPA/CEQA, Public Agency Law, Endangered Species Act

Bio

David Aladjem regularly serves as counsel for public agencies in connection with complex multiparty water negotiations throughout California. Currently, he represents two municipal water districts in Southern California seeking water rights that would provide a permanent water supply serving between 100,000 and 125,000 people. This effort has included overseeing the preparation of an environmental impact report (EIR) under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA); a contested water right hearing before the California State Water Resources Control Board; and multiparty negotiations with water districts, environmental groups, and state and federal regulatory agencies. He also recently served as counsel for three statewide and national associations in connection with the successful negotiation of a statewide policy regarding the use of recycled water. That negotiation, again, involved extensive discussions with environmental groups and state regulators.

 

In the past, David has served as counsel to many agencies involved in complicated water rights negotiations. As an example, he served as counsel to a mutual water company in the Sacramento Valley that was renewing a water right settlement contract with the United States. In those negotiations, the United States wished substantially to reduce the quantity of water provided to the mutual water company. David was able to assist the company in limiting the reduction of Central Valley Project water and obtaining an increased quantity of base supply water in its renewal contract. He also has extensive experience in negotiating the terms of water transfers with state and federal agencies, including issues relating to the regulatory restrictions placed on water rights as well as compliance with CEQA, the National Environmental Policy Act and the state and federal endangered species acts.

 

Other examples of David's experience in negotiating complicated and cutting-edge projects include his service as general counsel to a flood control district in the Sacramento Valley that was implementing an innovative floodplain management program. In this capacity, he coordinated with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, state and federal fish and wildlife agencies, as well as the federal action agency. David also served as counsel for a water agency located on the Central California coast. In that role, he counseled the agency in the reoperation of its reservoirs to reverse a half-century of seawater intrusion in coastal groundwater basins. In all of these—and many other—cases, David brings his substantive knowledge of the law, his creativity, and his ability to work with diverse stakeholders to assist clients in crafting new and unique solutions to seemingly intractable problems.

 

He presently serves as the Chair of the American Bar Association's Water Resources Committee. He was recently asked to testify as an expert on California's water rights system before the California Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Water. He has received an AV (highest) rating from his peers through the Martindale-Hubbell peer review process. He is admitted to practice before all state courts in California, before the U.S. District Courts for the Central and Eastern Districts of California, before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court. He attended law school at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall), and received his undergraduate degree from Stanford University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

Education:
•  University of California at Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall); Berkeley, California (J.D., 1989)
•  Princeton University; Princeton, New Jersey (M.A., 1985)
•  Stanford University; Stanford, California (A.B., 1981)


Admitted to Practice in:
California

Articles:
•  Proposal for Revisions to California's Central Valley Flood Control System (Discussion Paper, December 1, 2004)
•  Reclamation Determines Beneficial Use of Water by California's Imperial Irrigation District (The Water Resources Committee Newsletter, August 2003)
•  California’s Other “Dual System”: Coordinated Management of Groundwater and Surface Water (49th Annual Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Institute, July 2003)
•  Groundwater Management in California: The Sax Report and Beyond (California Water Law & Policy Reporter, July 2002)
•  Is Water Ripe for the Taking? (California Water Law & Policy Reporter, July 2001)
•  Property Rights Triumphant: Barstow v. Mojave Water Agency (California Water Law & Policy Reporter, October 2000)
•  CalFed Issues Revised Phase II Report (California Water Law & Policy Reporter, February 1999)
•  Affirming Secure Property Rights in Water: Barstow v. Mojave Water Agency (California Water Law & Policy Reporter, July 1998)