|
Education:
A.B. Stanford University, 1982
J.D. University of Santa Clara School of Law, summa cum laude, 1985
Biography:
Jeanne M. Zolezzi is a recognized expert in California Water Rights.
This expertise is acknowledged by her leadership role in the American
Bar Association water matters. Her practice includes counseling,
administrative matters and water rights litigation. For over sixteen
years she has represented public agency and private clients in the
acquisition and confirmation of water rights. She handles state
and federal litigation against the State Water Resources Control
Board and the United States Bureau of Reclamation.
Ms.
Zolezzi recently appeared as amicus curie before the Nevada Supreme
Court, arguing that the public trust doctrine should be affirmatively
applied to Nevada water rights adjudication matters.
Ms.
Zolezzi represented the plaintiff in the rare water right adjudication
of a stream: Putah Creek in Solano County. The litigation involved
literally hundreds of parties and included lands within Lake, Solano
and Yolo Counties. After a decade of litigation, she was able to
successfully settle all aspects of the litigation and develop a
working partnership among the United States, local governmental
agencies and private water right holders.
Representing
clients that hold water supply contracts with the United States,
Ms. Zolezzi has negotiated renewals of several of those contracts
with the federal government, and processed the CEQA and NEPA documentation
required for their approval, guaranteeing a continued long-term
water supply to thousands of acres of land. She is currently in
litigation with the United States over implementation of the Central
Valley Project Improvement Act and its injury to water users within
the watersheds of origin in San Joaquin County.
Ms.
Zolezzi represented Castaic Lake Water Agency when it implemented
the first whole-sale purchase of a district receiving water from
the State Water Project; she negotiated and documented the purchase
of and transfer of water from the Devil's Den Water District in
Kern County to Castaic Lake Water Agency. Ms. Zolezzi is currently
negotiating a controversial water transfer from an agricultural
water district to a neighboring municipality in San Joaquin County.
She
appears regularly before the State Water Resources Control Board,
and represented several clients in the recent Bay Delta Water Rights
Hearings. Those hearings are now in litigation where Ms. Zolezzi
represents clients asserting the rights of lands within the areas
of origin to protection under California law.
In
addition to her practice in Natural Resources, Ms. Zolezzi undertakes
title and environmental review for the annual acquisition of millions
of dollars of agricultural property for clients throughout the west.
Ms.
Zolezzi has lectured on environmental and natural resource topics
in numerous professional settings, including the American Bar Association's
Annual Water Law Conference, the Water Education Foundation, and
the Association of California Water Agencies.
During
law school, Ms. Zolezzi was an intern for Justice Stanley Mosk of
the California Supreme Court. Ms. Zolezzi is a fifth generation
San Joaquin County resident, and her family has farmed in that area
for over 100 years. She continues to live on orchard lands with
her husband and three children.
Affiliations:
Vice-Chair, American Bar Association - Section of Natural Resources,
Energy and
Environmental Law, Water Resources Committee
Chair, American Bar Association - Section of Natural Resources,
Energy and Environmental Law: 13th Annual Water Law Conference 1996
Member, Association of California Water Agencies Legal Committee
Member, California Bar Association Committee on Real Estate Specialization
Certification
President, Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce, 1995-96
President, Stockton Women's Network, 1990
Chair, San Joaquin Chapter American Diabetes Association 1991-92
Director, Greater Stockton Foundation, 1986-
Member, State Bar of California, Environmental Law Section 1985-Present
Member, State Bar of California, Real Property Section 1985-Present
Member, San Joaquin County Bar Association 1985-Present
Court Rulings:
California
Trout v Schaefer (Stockton-East Water District), 58 F.3d
469 (9th Cir. 1995)
County
of San Joaquin v State Water Resources Control Board,(1997)
54 Cal.App.4th 1144, 63 Cal.Rptr.2d 277
Mineral
County vs. State , Dep't of Conserv.
(2001) 117 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 23, No. 36352
Articles:
Athena Award 2004
Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce - 2004
Growth
Foes Fight Water Sale
San Joaquin Record - September 9, 2002
Ripon’s
Water Gets Two Boosts
Reconciling
the Public Trust and Appropriate Water Rights in California
24 Santa Clara Law Review 291, 1984
"Reclaiming
Wastewater Previously Discharged into a Natural Watercourse, SWRCB's
First Decision under Water Code 1211 Raises More Questions than
it Answers"
California Water Law & Policy Reporter, October 1995.
The
Battle Between Sovereign Immunity and State Law. Natural
Resources & Environment, Volume 15, Number 1. Summer 2000
|
