Los Angeles, CA (May 28, 2010) -- Fred Fudacz is one of the foremost water lawyers in the United States and a partner at the law firm of Nossaman LLP. He has over three decades of experience representing water users in complex litigation involving the adjudication of water rights, representing water purveyors with contaminated groundwater supplies, and providing a wide range of legal advice to court appointed watermasters.
Q: What is the most challenging case you've worked on, and why?
A: The Baldwin Park Operable Unit $350 million superfund cleanup case was likely the most challenging. There were many parties involved and a number of legal approaches were used to reach a resolution including litigation, regulatory pressure, insurance recovery, and legislative and public policy work.
We represented the Main San Gabriel Basin Watermaster in negotiating an agreement to cleanup the superfund site. Perchlorate and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) threatened to shut down many wells in the Basin, wells that served 1.5 million people in the greater Los Angeles area. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had been working for 17 years to find a cleanup solution.
I served as coordinating counsel and lead spokesman for seven competing water entities with a need to homogenize interests to negotiate effectively. The team here at Nossaman had to fight eight very tough-minded industrial concerns that were identified as the prime polluters.
We developed negotiating strategies, orchestrated legislative hearings, encouraged the relevant regulatory agencies, including the EPA, to take action, and filed petitions with the regional water quality control board. After two years of intense negotiations we were able to put together a $350+ million program to treat and clean the water.
The case is representative of the practice of water law. In large part, that's what it is - negotiating solutions to complex issues. The success of the cleanup resolution is a testament to the talent Nossaman has in various specialized areas.
Q: What do you do to prepare for trial?
A: Trying a case and arguing in court requires that you master all of the facts, all of the arguments. It takes a tremendous amount of preparation. You need to orchestrate all of the moving pieces involved, the witnesses, all of the documents, the legal theories. I liken it to producing a Broadway play.
Q: What is the most challenging water issues currently facing your clients?
A: The single biggest issue facing the water community today is the restrictions in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta on pumping water to supply the California State Water Project and the Central Valley Project. The restrictions are having a major impact on the State's water supply.
In California, groundwater rights are primarily managed, to the extent they are managed, through a court system of adjudication which typically determines allocations and a management framework. Groundwater users in Southern California have typically relied on supplemental water supplies from the Delta to augment available local water supplies. That management premise is being undermined by the restrictions on water moving through the Delta.
One positive development in an overall bleak situation is that the limited water supply creates additional incentives for cleaning up contamination. Securing funding for water treatment is very involved and often includes working through the regulatory process, engaging in litigation, and legislation.
Q: Aside from your own cases, which cases are you following closely, and why?
A: We're handling several significant cases related to the State Water Project and the Central Valley Project and pumping in the delta, including the cases involving the biological opinions for the delta smelt and salmon species. We're also closely following other related cases. Judge Wanger in Fresno, who is in charge of these cases, is perhaps the most important individual in the State regarding water policy because of his influence over whether water can be moved through the delta.
Q: Outside of Nossaman, name one lawyer who's impressed you, and why?
A: Art Littleworth at Best Best & Krieger is perhaps 80 now, but he has everyone in the water community's respect. He's knowledgeable, has a terrific demeanor, always treats everyone well, and is effective for clients. He has a highly competent and gracious approach to the practice of law. I always think that practicing water law in California is like practicing in a small town. It's a tight knit community. If you burn bridges in one case, it makes you less effective in others.
Q: What advice would you give to a young lawyer interested in getting into water law?
A: You need to know the business and be involved with organizations where people congregate to work out water policy in the State. Spend a lot of time learning. Starting out I spent weekends reading cases and treatises relating to water law. It is not intuitive. Water law in California developed organically through historical issues the state faced. It has a vocabulary and a history over centuries that all play into the picture today.