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Mr. Slater is a Shareholder in Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck and a member of the Water & Public Lands Group. An experienced litigator, Mr. Slater's legal practice now emphasizes negotiation and strategic planning for clients seeking to secure new water supplies and assisting them in meeting their objectives for reliability and sustainability. Mr. Slater serves as special water counsel to investor-owned utilities, private equity groups, private corporations, special districts, cities and large landowners. Mr. Slater has more than 24 years experience representing clients in complex water matters, predominantly in the Western United States. He has conducted transactional counseling, negotiated and drafted proposed legislation, and represented clients in groundwater litigation and stream adjudication. He has also handled water resource and water quality cases before the California State Water Resources Control Board, the Public Utilities Commission and state and federal courts. Among his more significant recent water transactions, in 2007 Mr. Slater acted as facilitator, negotiator and draftsman of a complex set of court approved agreements that will effectuate a novel groundwater management strategy in the Southern California Inland Empire. The agreements will allow for the harvesting of 400,000 acre-feet of groundwater and 10 mgd of expanded desalting capacity to dramatically curtail outflow to the Santa Ana River. In 2005 Mr. Slater completed negotiations for an agreement for the joint use of the Upper American River Project (UARP) for the benefit of El Dorado County, an area of origin community at the headwaters of the American River. Through the Quantification Settlement Agreement, in 2003 he capped nearly a decade of effort by negotiating agreements for transfer of 277,000 acre-feet per year for the San Diego County Water Authority, the largest water transfer in United States history. Mr. Slater has been active in numerous water adjudication and litigation matters and he has a working knowledge of every adjudicated groundwater basin in California, including the Chino Basin, the San Fernando Basin, the Six Basins, the Seaside Basin, the Santa Paula Basin, the Central and West Coast Basins, the Mojave Basin, the Goleta Basin, and the Sacramento Basin. An accomplished author and public speaker, Mr. Slater is frequently called upon to present at national water and environmental conferences. He is the author of a two-volume treatise titled California Water Law and Policy. He has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Pepperdine School of Law (1996-2002), a visiting lecturer at the University of Western Australia and at various universities in the People's Republic of China. In addition, Mr. Slater has been appointed to water management boards and called upon repeatedly to serve as an expert witness in water law and the professional standard of care for water lawyers. Selected Transactions Peace II Agreements (2007). As general counsel to the Chino Basin Watermaster, facilitated, negotiated and drafted agreements among parties to the Judgment to implement the Optimum Basin Management Program. Represented the parties and Watermaster before the Court in securing approval of the a basin management strategy to secure hydraulic control through a coordinated groundwater extraction plan and desalting. Cooperation Agreement (2005). Negotiated an agreement for the joint use of the Upper American River Project (UARP) for the benefit of El Dorado County, an area of origin community at the headwaters of the American River. The agreement provided access to the UARP and the right to divert and store up to 40,000 acre feet of water annually. Quantification Settlement Agreement (2003). Negotiated a series of complex agreements between State and Federal agencies for the settlement of disputes and the lining of the All-American Canal and the transfer of 77,700 acre feet of water to San Diego County for the next 110 years. Chino Basin Desalter Authority (2001). Facilitator and mediator in the formation of the Chino Basin Desalter Authority and $350 million water supply contracts. Peace Agreement - Chino Basin (2000). Facilitator and mediator as general counsel for the Chino Basin Watermaster for execution of a 400 million dollar Optimum Basin Management Program and Peace Agreement for the Chino Basin. Agreement for the Sale of Santa Clarita Water Company (1999). Lead negotiator in 63 million dollar sale of an investor-owned utility to the Castaic Lake Water Agency. Agreement for Treatment of Wastewater at Hyperion (1999). Negotiated thirty-year wastewater agreement for the City of Beverly Hills, City of Burbank and Universal Studios with the City of Los Angeles for use of the largest wastewater facility in the Western United States. | 