Agenda

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Wednesday, March 25, 2026

8:00 am – 4:30 pm MDT


Agenda:

PFAS Water Regulations: What’s Here, What’s Coming
Presented by Michelle De Blasi and Pejman Eshraghi, PE

  • Safe Drinking Water Act
    • Fifth unregulated contaminants monitoring rule
    • Proposed national primary drinking water regulation – MCLs for PFOA, PFOS, and four others
    • Potential Arizona aquifer water quality standards
  • Clean Water Act
    • Biosolids management
    • Aquatic life criteria development
  • Comprehensive Environmental Response, Liability, and Compensation Act
    • Proposed hazardous substances listings – PFOA and PFOS
    • Advanced notice of proposed rulemaking – seven additional PFAS

Understanding Arizona Surface Water Rights
Presented by John Burnside

  • Types of surface water rights
  • Prior appropriation doctrine
  • Determination of appropriative rights
  • Changes to appropriative rights
  • Abandonment and forfeiture
  • Surface water/groundwater interaction
  • Current issues

Endangered Species Act and Its Implications for Water Projects, Protection of Water Resources and Water Rights
Presented by Gary Gold

  • Recent proposed regulations issued by USFWS and NMFS
  • Scope of interagency consultation under section 7 of the ESA
  • Implications for water projects, protection of water resources, and water rights

Understanding Arizona Groundwater Rights
Presented by Fred Breedlove

  • Ownership of groundwater
  • Regulation of groundwater rights
  • Obtaining groundwater rights
  • Application and permitting process
  • Current issues in groundwater rights

Understanding Groundwater: Its Occurrence, Connection to Surface Water, and Opportunities for Recharge
Presented by Axel Buchwalter

  • Relevance of recharge
  • Recharge programs in Arizona
  • Groundwater saving facilities (GSFs)
  • Underground storage facilities (USFs)
  • Water storage permitting
  • Recovery well permitting
  • Assured water supply program frameworks
  • Alternative designation of assured water supply (ADAWS) rules

Inter-Jurisdictional Water Rights: Water for Tribes, Water for States, Water for Nations
Presented by Rhett Larson

  • Tribal water rights
  • Inter-state water rights in the Colorado River
  • International water rights between the U.S. and Mexico

Avoiding, Identifying and Resolving Ethical Issues in Land and Water Transactions
Presented by Riley S. Snow

  • Private property rights vs. public rights
  • Community/local control of land and water resources
  • Environmental preservation of land and water

 

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Credits

Engineers
7.5 Elective PDHs

Land Surveyors
7.5 PDHs

Attorneys
7.5 CLE Hours

 

Continuing Education Information

This webinar is open to the public and is designed to qualify for 7.5 CLE hours for Arizona attorneys, 7.5 PDHs for Arizona land surveyors, and offers 7.5 elective PDHs to Arizona engineers.

The State Bar of Arizona does not approve or accredit CLE activities for the Mandatory Continuing Legal Education requirement. This activity may qualify for up to 7.5 hours toward your annual CLE requirement for the State Bar of Arizona, including 1.0 hour of professional responsibility.

Completion certificates will be awarded to participants who complete this event and earn a passing score (80%) on the quiz that follows the presentation (multiple attempts allowed).

*On-Demand Credits*

The preceding credit information only applies to the live presentation. This course in an on-demand format may not be eligible for the same credits as the live presentation; please consult your licensing board(s) to ensure that a structured, asynchronous learning format is appropriate.

Speakers

Fred Breedlove

Of Counsel, Dorsey & Whitney, LLP, in Phoenix, AZ

Mr. Breedlove focuses his practice on water rights transactions and permitting, state and federal land permitting, mining, administrative law, and governmental relations. His experience includes a wide variety of water rights transactions (groundwater, surface water, and Colorado River entitlements), assured water supply permitting, consultation on compliance with active management area management plans, water rights due diligence and permitting, state land acquisition, and National Historic Preservation Act compliance. Mr. Breedlove has represented land developers, landowners, golf courses, ranchers, farmers, private water and energy utility businesses, government agencies, and private equity investment firms. He also served for five years as the legislative liaison for the Arizona Department of Water Resources, during which time he managed several bills that were enacted, including the 2007 Water Adequacy Amendments. Mr. Breedlove has experience with the Arizona legislative process, bill drafting, and government relations. He earned his B.S. degree from Western Washington University, his Master of Studies in Environmental Law from Vermont Law School and his J.D. degree from Vermont Law School.

Axel Buchwalter

Senior Attorney, Cark Hill, in Phoenix, AZ

Mr. Buchwalter is a senior attorney with Cark Hill. He focuses on providing effective solutions for public and private clients dealing with intricate water, energy, and environmental issues. Mr. Buchwalter represents agriculture, industry, municipalities, developers, special districts, and utilities to develop practical solutions for water resource challenges. He has extensive experience in all areas of water law, including Arizona’s assured and adequate water supply programs, due diligence investigations, and acquisition of surface water and groundwater rights, well-sharing agreements, negotiation of development agreements with municipalities and special districts, water conservation and drought planning, underground water storage and recovery permitting, federal and Indian reserved water rights, subflow issues, representing clients in the Little Colorado and Gila River General Stream Adjudication, and other complex water litigation, as well as drafting and lobbying for water resources legislation. Mr. Buchwalter earned his J.D. degree from University of Alabama School of Law and his M.B.A. from Arizona State University.

John Burnside

Attorney at Snell & Wilmer, LLP, in Phoenix, AZ

 Mr. Burnside covers water rights and water quality as part of a broad-based environmental and natural resources law practice at Snell & Wilmer. Mr. Burnside regularly counsels and represents significant water interests in the State of Arizona, with a particular focus on mining and energy. He has extensive experience litigating contested water rights claims in Arizona’s Gila River General Stream Adjudication, including multiple arguments and trials before the Special Water Master. Mr. Burnside has in-depth experience with the complex legal and technical issues surrounding Arizona water rights at the intersection between groundwater and surface water.

Michelle De Blasi

Law Office of Michelle De Blasi, in Scottsdale, AZ

Ms. De Blasi is a prominent environmental and energy attorney who brings decades of experience and relationships assisting clients obtain successful results with their environmental, natural resource and energy projects. She brings her many years of government and “Big Law” experience to her own firm to provide more effective client service at a lower cost. Ms. De Blasi has the horsepower to handle big cases while providing excellent client service. She focuses on business strategy by helping clients in a broad array of industries complete their projects from start to finish, overseeing all aspects of permitting, while assessing business risks and hitting milestones on time and on budget. Ms. De Blasi advises clients how to avoid disputes, and how to resolve them efficiently and effectively when they cannot be avoided. On the state and federal environmental regulatory levels, clients consistently rely on her knowledge of hazardous waste, air quality, water quality, environmental health and safety, real property due diligence, utility regulation, natural resource damage issues, asbestos, and underground storage tank regulation. Throughout her many years of experience on the energy side of her practice, she has advised clients on due diligence, permitting, siting and contractual agreements for energy generation projects, both traditional and alternative energy, as well as carbon emissions tracking and reporting. From an early age, Ms. De Blasi knew she wanted to be an environmental attorney, so she earned a Bachelor of Science degree before going to law school. During law school, she sought out experience in the federal government where she continued working as a natural resources lawyer on large Superfund and oil spill remediation and natural resource damage assessment cases. This passion for her work is reflected in the long-term relationships she builds with her clients, helping effectively manage issues as they arise and resolving matters as quickly as possible so her clients can get back to running their businesses. Ms. De Blasi is a speaker, author, event producer and the Executive Director of the Arizona Energy Consortium, a non-profit organization.

Pejman Eshraghi, PE

Principal Consultant with Haley Aldrich, in Phoenix, AZ

With more than three decades of combined environmental regulatory and consulting experience, Mr. Eshraghi brings a seasoned perspective to the investigation, remediation, and risk-based closure of sites formerly impacted by petroleum, chlorinated solvents, and metals. Mr. Eshraghi takes a “go slow to go fast” approach to environmental challenges; he collaborates with clients to truly understand their needs and goals, then teams with Haley & Aldrich experts across the country to find the right solutions. He also draws on his insights as a former regulator to advocate on behalf of clients, developing cost-effective, innovative approaches that fit within the regulatory framework. Mr. Eshraghi’s versatility in applying federal and state laws has qualified him to serve as an expert witness in technical and administrative hearings, as well as in negotiations on behalf of clients with federal and state agencies. The governor of Arizona also selected him to serve as the chair of the Arizona Underground Storage Tank Technical Appeals Panel. Within Haley & Aldrich, Mr. Eshraghi appreciates opportunities to mentor more staff members, both in the field and in the office, nurturing the next generation of company leaders.

Gary Gold

Of Counsel, Best Best & Krieger, LLP, in Washington, DC

Mr. Gold is an attorney and engineer with nearly two decades of experience in natural resources. Drawing on his interdisciplinary background, Mr. Gold guides public agencies and Tribal Nations through complex legal and regulatory environments with particular expertise in the National Environmental Policy Act, Endangered Species Act, other federal laws governing natural resources. Mr. Gold previously served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Water and Science at the U.S. Department of the Interior where he played a key role in negotiating settlements to resolve water rights claims and in advancing construction of water infrastructure including the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project. Mr. Gold started his career as a Water Resources engineer at Austin Water Utility in Texas. As an attorney, he has worked on regulatory compliance matters for Salt River Project in Arizona and served as a natural resources advisor to U.S. Senators on both sides of the aisle. Mr. Gold is a former National Science Foundation Research Fellow.

Rhett Larson

Professor of Water Law, Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, in Phoenix, AZ

Mr. Larson is the Richard Morrison Professor of Water Law at Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. He is a faculty fellow in the Center for Law and Global Affairs, and the Center for Law, Science, and Innovation. He is also a senior research fellow with the Kyl Center for Water Policy at ASU’s Morrison Institute for Public Policy. Professor Larson’s research and teaching interests are in property law, administrative law, and environmental and natural resource law, in particular, domestic and international water law and policy. Professor Larson’s research focuses on the impact of technological innovation on water rights regimes, in particularly transboundary waters, and on the sustainability implications of a human right to water. He works on dispute resolution and improved processes in water rights adjudications in Arizona and the Colorado River Basin with the Kyl Center for Water Policy. He is the Principal Investigator on a USAID-funded applied research project improving water supplies for refugee host communities in Lebanon and Jordan. Professor Larson was a visiting professor and Fulbright Scholar at the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador, a PLuS Alliance visiting fellow with the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, a Lady Davis Fellow and visiting professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is the author of Just Add Water: Solving the World’s Problems Using its Most Precious Resource (Oxford University Press, 2020). Professor Larson also practiced environmental and natural resource law with law firms in Arizona, focusing on water rights, water quality, and real estate transactions.

Riley S. Snow

Attorney at Rose Law Group, in Scottsdale, AZ

Mr. Snow represents clients in Arizona and Utah on matters related to water rights, real property, and resource development. He regularly appears before land and water agencies and in state and federal court. Mr. Snow’s clients include governmental entities, national and multi-national corporations, water companies, cooperatives, partnerships, and individuals. He has litigated numerous general adjudication claims in Arizona and Utah. Mr. Snow has also litigated quiet title, easement, right-of-way and condemnation claims in both states.

Streamable MP4/PDF Price: $339.00

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