The Montana Department of Natural Resources & Conservation Water Resources Division’s Comprehensive Water Review has tapped Abigail R. Brown to serve on its Stakeholder Working Group (SWG) for the 2023-2024 year. This group makes critical decisions and contributes input to the state’s water priorities. Members of the group were required to apply for the position and were selected by the department. The group is comprised of a broad range of water-related professionals across industries. Brown is an environmental and natural resources attorney with extensive experience in water rights and real property issues.
“I am honored to serve the water users of Montana as we evaluate existing state water policies and develop recommendations to reform priority water policy issues to ensure those policies are serving existing and future water needs.” Brown says.
A member of Parsons Behle & Latimer’s environmental and natural resources team and the chair of the firm’s water law practice group, Brown has more than a decade of experience representing a diverse range of water users from small individual family farms to large irrigation districts in water law and real property matters. She holds an L.L.M. in Water and Environmental Law from McGeorge School of Law, where she focused on contemporary water law and environmental issues facing the greater Intermountain West region. Brown represents water users through all stages of water rights adjudication proceedings in the Montana Water Court, in water rights distribution and enforcement conflicts in state district courts, and in administrative proceedings in front state agencies.
In a public statement, the Water Resource Division said “When it comes to proactively addressing water priorities, the SWG process is a critical tool for developing lasting solutions. We gave a lot of thought to how to make the SWG process inclusive and representative of the full spectrum of Montana water users while also ensuring a knowledgeable, experienced, and committed team.”
