Our Firm

By 2030 up to 50% of the world will face severe water stress and shortages. Global water consumption increases at twice the population rate. In 1960 the world’s population was 3 billion, which represented a doubling of the population since the mid-1800’s. By the year 2000, the population had increased to over 6 billion. By 2022, it reached 8 billion and is expected to reach 9 billion by 2037.

In the western United States alone, the impacts of climate change have been felt hardest in the water sphere. The top ten hottest years of record were recorded between 2015 and 2025. Since 2000, the West has seen 19 years of drought out of the last twenty-five years and the last 25 years have been the driest in the last 1,200 years.

Population and the movement to a digital society have exacerbated water shortages through increased demand for food, consumer products, and power generation to meet the growing demand for artificial intelligence and a digital society. Competition for water supplies for drinking and sanitation, production of food and generation of energy to supply this population requires vision, expertise, and creative planning.

Our firm has been dedicated solely to water, water development, and water planning for over four decades. We lead the field in diligent, cutting edge, sustainable planning and legal services in the water sphere. Understanding these challenges and planning and developing assured, adaptive water supplies are a hallmark of our firm.

We offer concentrated expertise in:

• water rights law
• water resource and waste water planning
• water transfers
• water quality law
• infrastructure planning and development
• basin planning and mediation
• transboundary water issues
• tribal water law
• geothermal law
• aquatic environmental law (ESA and wetland law)

Our clients range from individuals to major corporations…from municipalities to regional basin authorities…from ranchers to resorts. Our confined area of practice requires us to be versant in the physical sciences, economics of utility regulation and resource and infrastructure planning. Our task is to integrate these facets of the practice resulting in a solution that meets the client’s schedule and objectives.

Waterlaw: Patrick, Miller, Noto has attorneys licensed in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and Texas. We have offices in Aspen, CO | Basalt, CO | Denver, CO |  Scottsdale, AZ.