About
MEET ANDY
Water Rights
Water Policy
Water Rights Transactions
Colorado, 1997
U.S. District Court District of Colorado, 1997
“My practice is all about solving problems and advancing goals. My first question to a client is ‘What do you want to accomplish?’ Once we have the goal in sight, specific skills - investigation, evaluation, education, legal analysis, advocacy, negotiation - can be targeted towards achieving the goal. Creativity is an essential element of the process.”
Substantive Areas of Practice
Bar Admissions
EDUCATION
Vermont Law School, South Royalton, Vermont, May, 1997 Juris Doctor
Vermont Law Review, Notes Editor
Honors: National Dean's List: 1994-95, 1995-96
Honors: American Jurisprudence Award: Criminal Law
Honors: Class Rank: Top 1/3.
Focus of Specialized Course Work: Environmental Law
University of Denver Sturm College of Law, Denver
Colorado Visiting Student Spring 1996 - Focus on Water Law, Oil & Gas Law
Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, May, 1994
B.A. Major: History
Colorado CLE 40 Hour Mediation Training
Instructor: Judy Mares-Dixon, CDR, Boulder
Public Policy Dispute Resolution
Nominated for District Court Judge Vacancy, 19th Judicial District. June, 2009.
Water Court Committee, Colorado Supreme Court, December 2007- . Appointed by Colorado Supreme Court Chief Justice Mary J. Mullarkey to serve on a Committee charged with reviewing Colorado's Water Court process, identifying possible ways through rule and/or statutory change to increase efficiencies in water court cases, and ensuring the highest level of competence in water court case participants.
Andrew Borg Pro-Bono Award, Weld County Legal Services, 2002.
Weld County Deputy Public Administrator, 2000-2003.
APPOINTMENTS & AWARDS
Front Range Resources, LLC v. Colorado Ground Water Commission, 415 P.3d 807 (Colo. 2018).
Well Augmentation Subdistrict of the Central Colorado Water Conservancy District v. City of Aurora, 221 P.3d 399 (Colo. 2009).
Meridian Ranch Metropolitan District v. Colorado Ground Water Commission, 240 P.3d 382 (Colo. App. 2009).
Gallegos v. Colorado Ground Water Com’n, 147 P.3d 20 (Colo. 2006)
In Re: Water Rights of Central Colorado Water Conservancy District, 147 P.3d 9 (Colo. 2006).
Cherokee Metropolitan District v. Simpson, 148 P.3d 142 (Colo 2006).
Upper Black Squirrel Creek Ground Water Management District v. Colorado Ground Water Commission, 993 P.2d 1177 (Colo. 2000)
Eagle Peak Farms, Ltd. v. Lost Creek Ground Water Management District, 7 P.3d 1006 (Colo. App. 1999)
REPORTED CASES
2021 Mutual Ditch Company Legislation
2020 Mutual Ditch Company Legislation
2017 SB17-036 Appellate Process Concerning Groundwater Decisions
2016 HB16-1228 Agricultural Water Protection Water Right
2015 HB15-1013 South Platte Aquifer Study Recommendations
HB15-1166 South Platte Alluvial Aquifer Monitoring Network
HB15-1178 Emergency Well Pumping Damaging High Groundwater
SB15-055 Return of Water from Tail Ditch
SB15-183 Quantify Water Rights Historical Consumptive Use
2014 HB14-1052 Ground Water Management District Enforcement Authorization
2013 SB13-074 Irrigation Water Right Historical Use Acreage
2009 SB09-147 Water Supply Plans Pre-2003 Depletions
Representative Legislative Support
Colorado Bar Association Weld County Bar Association
Southgate Church, Board of Elders
Life for the Innocent, Board of Directors
Windsor Charter Academy, Windsor, Colorado: Former President, Board of Directors
Weld County Legal Services, Former Director
Associations, Boards and Memberships
Guest Lecturer: Colorado State University, University of Northern Colorado, University of Denver College of Law, AIMS Community College.
“Why ATMs: Common Denominators & Obstacles,” Panelist, Agriculture Water Summit, Inter Basin Compact Committee and Colorado Agriculture Water Alliance, November 2016.
“Water Disputes: Alternative Dispute Resolution Approaches,” CLE, Colorado Bar Association, October 2016.
“Groundwater Law,” Interdisciplinary Water Resources Seminar, Colorado State University, October 2016.
“Don’t Sell the Ranch: Alternatives to “Buy and Dry” in the South Platte River Basin,” Panelist, The Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute, 25th Annual RMLUI Conference, March 2016.
“FLEX Water Market,” Colorado State University, Guest Lecture, February 2016.
“Use it or Lose it? OR Use it and Keep it!” Panelist, 2015 Colorado Ag Water Summit, December 2015
“Compensation for Post-Pumping Depletions: Legal Perspective about the Requirement to Add Water to Aquifers that are Full,” American Ground Water Trust, Colorado Ground Water Issues Conference, December 2015.
“Use it or Lose it,” Conflict Resolution in Colorado Water Rights Proceedings, CLE in Colorado, Inc., Colorado Bar Association CLE October 2015.
“Front Range Water Issues,” Guest Speaker, Johnstown-Milliken Rotary Club, September 2015.
“Colorado Water Markets,” American Bar Association 2015 Water Law Conference, June 2015.
“Flexible Water Markets,” Colorado Water Congress 2015 Webinar, June 2015.
“Here Today but Gone Tomorrow?: Buying and Selling Water in the Poudre Basin,” Panelist, Poudre River Forum 2015, January 2015.
“Water Law and Colorado’s Water Plan,” Panelist, Colorado Water Congress Workshop, January 2015.
“A Water Court Case in Three Acts,” Engineering and Water Practice Under the “NEW” Rules: From All Perspectives, Colorado CLE, October 2014.
“FLEX Water Market,” Colorado Ag Council Summer Meeting, July 2014. “Alternatives to Buy and Dry,” Colorado Water Law Conference CLE February 2014.
“The Devil’s in the Details: Reducing Cost and Complexity in Water Rights Transactions,” Ditch and Reservoir Company Alliance Annual Conference, February 2014.
“FLEX Markets,” Water Rights Transfers Conference, CLE, July 2013. “The Next Three Things,” Leadership Northern Colorado, April 2013.
“Critical Issues in Colorado Water Law,” Northern Colorado Legislative Alliance Regional Issues Summit, September 2012.
“Water Court Training Series - South Platte River Basin Program,” Colorado CBA/CLE, 2011.
“Key Concepts in Colorado Water Law,” Water and Poudre River Public Education Series, Fort Collins, Colorado 2011.
“Colorado Water Law for Non-Lawyers,” Colorado Housing Now! Conference, 2010.
