Rebecca Smith

Rebecca R.A. Smith is an attorney with Downey Brand LLP, specializing in water rights and groundwater law. Ms. Smith’s practice focuses on administrative procedure and public agency practice, and she advises clients on water rights, water supply, land use and development and environmental compliance under state and federal law. Since its 2014 enactment, she has also worked closely with public agencies, water managers and other stakeholders to understand and comply with the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). In that role, she counsels clients on Groundwater Sustainability Agency formation and governance issues, requests for basin boundary modifications, and the preparation and evaluation of groundwater sustainability plans and alternatives, as well as funding options for those activities under SGMA. Ms. Smith is well-versed in administrative procedure, and counsels clients through the permitting and appeals processes at the State Water Resources Control Board, through local agency appeals, and before federal agencies including the Bureau of Land Management and the Bureau of Reclamation.