Frameworks for Addressing Transboundary Governance Issues
January 24, 2026
2026 California Water Law Symposium - Charting Our Course: State and Local Strategies for Safeguarding California's Waters in a Time of Federal Turbulence
Downey Brand water law partner Meredith Nikkel will be moderating a panel at the 22nd Annual California Water Law Symposium on January 24, 2026, at UC Law San Francisco. This year’s symposium examines the implications of recent federal legislative, executive, and judicial developments for California’s waters. Panels will cover governance and allocation, water quality enforcement, and species protection, with a focus on adaptive local and state responses to new challenges and uncertainties facing California’s water systems.
Meredith’s panel, “Frameworks for Addressing Transboundary Governance Issues,” is organized by Stanford Law School and UC Berkeley School of Law and includes the following panelists:
- Buzz Thompson, Professor, Stanford Law School
- JB Hamby, Colorado River Board of California
- Maria Giner, Former International Boundary and Water Commission
In light of mounting tension between California and the federal government over water management, this panel will explore the mechanisms available for resolving disputes that shape California’s water future. From clashes between state and federal authority to conflicts among western states and even international agreements with Mexico, California sits at the center of increasingly complex governance challenges. The panel will examine how legal frameworks, compacts, treaties, and judicial decisions mediate these disputes, and what new pressures—climate change, biodiversity loss, and population growth—mean for the durability of existing arrangements.
Downey Brand is a proud sponsor of this annual event. For more information and to register, visit the event website.