Richard Roos-Collins

Richard is Director of Legal Services at the Natural Heritage Institute, a public-interest law firm based in San Francisco, CA. Since 1991, he has represented public agencies and non-profit organizations in water and energy matters. He specializes in settlements in complex, multi-party disputes. He was trial counsel for California Trout in the Mono Lake Cases, which established a rule of law that water rights must protect public trust resources. He represented conservation groups in Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s bankruptcy proceeding, resulting in a commitment to protect 140,000 acres of watershed lands in perpetuity. He is a founder and a director of Hydropower Reform Coalition (Washington, D.C.); Chairman of the Low Impact Hydropower Institute (Portland, ME); and Co-Chair, Agricultural Water Management Council (Sacramento, CA). Before joining NHI, he was Attorney-Adviser, Office of General Counsel, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (1986-1989) and Deputy Attorney General, California Department of Justice (1989-1991). He is a graduate of Harvard Law School (1986, honors) and Princeton University (B.A., 1975, high honors).

Abstract:Public Trust and the Legal Framework at Mono Lake, California

This presentation will describe the legal basis for the 1994 amendments to Los Angeles’ water rights which, as originally issued in 1940, permitted the diversion of all tributary flows to Mono Lake. It will summarize the strategies which the Mono Lake Committee and California Trout successfully used to apply the public trust doctrine and related statutes across nearly 20 years of litigation. It will look ahead to 2014, when the State will review whether the 1994 amendments have achieved their ecological objectives. Finally, it will emphasize lessons learned in the Mono Lake Cases to face emerging challenges, including climate change.

Morning at Mono Lake by James Neeley

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