Our Focus

Who We Are & What We Do

AquaLawyers:
  • Are skilled problem solvers, negotiators, litigators, and lobbyists.
  • Support industry leading utilities nationwide.
  • Help build infrastructure and obtain, use, treat and recycle water.
  • Negotiate project-specific regulatory permits that are flexible, affordable, and cost-effective.
  • Respect the agencies’ chains of command and often arrive at unique solutions.
  • Back up our core regulatory practice with a robust litigation and lobbying practice to provide alternate forums to resolve client issues if agency negotiations fail.
  • Resolve enforcement effectively and efficiently.
  • Negotiate and draft contracts that make good business sense and protect client interests.
  • Litigate a wide range of disputes in State and federal courts involving water and infrastructure.
  • Serve clients nationwide, including in 29 states plus the District of Columbia.

Where We Have Provided Insight

Our lawyers are routinely invited to present to statewide, regional, and national audiences on a wide range of environmental and other topics.  We are also often asked to write articles on cutting edge topics in national, regional, and statewide publications.

Representative Publications:
  • Reclaiming the MEP Standard to Rightsize Municipal Stormwater Obligations, Keystone Water Quality Manager (PWEA), 2020 (L. Ochsenhirt, J. Curtis)
  • Nutrient Credit Trading: Success Factors in the Three States with the Most Trading Activity, Conference Paper, WEFTEC, June 2018 (J. Curtis, C. Pomeroy)
  • Chapter Five: Publicly Owned Treatment Works, The Clean Water Act Handbook, Fourth Edition, American Bar Association, June 2018 (A. Waters and co-authors)
  • NACWA MS4 Stormwater Permitting Guide, March 2018 (C. Pomeroy, L. Ochsenhirt, J. Curtis)
  • Chapter 1 Water Rights Based on State Law, Water Rights and Environmental Regulation: A Lawyer’s Guide, American Bar Association, August 2018 (A. Waters and co-author)
Speaking Engagements:
  • Legal & Regulatory Considerations for Clean Water Utilities During COVID-19, NACWA, National Webinar, May 2020 (A. Waters)
  • Municipal Stormwater MEP-Based Permitting, WEF Stormwater Institute Policy Forum, National Webinar, May 2020 (C. Pomeroy)
  • Review of State Restrictions on Biosolids Beneficial Use, VAMWA-MWCOG-MAMWA D.C. Regional Biosolids Meeting, March 2020 (L. Ochsenhirt)
  • WWTP Operator Compliance Workshop, Maryland Association of Municipal Wastewater Agencies, Back River WWTP, Baltimore, MD, November 2019 (L. Ochsenhirt, R. Sweeney)
  • Regulatory/Legislative Update & Emerging Pollutants, WEASC Operator Conference, Myrtle Beach, SC, October 2019 (P. Calamita)
  • NPDES Best Practices Compliance Workshop, Association of Missouri Cleanwater Agencies, Jefferson City, MO, October 2019 (J. Curtis)
  • New Opportunities for Peak Flow Management at Municipal Wastewater Plants, WEFTEC, Chicago, IL, September 2019 (C. Pomeroy)
  • Surviving Ammonia Water Quality Criteria, VWEA / VA-AWWA, Virginia Beach, VA, September 2019 (D. Sedgley)
  • Challenges to Permitting New Water, Wastewater, and Stormwater Projects, VWEA / VA-AWWA, Virginia Beach, VA, September 2019 (J. Curtis)
  • Pollutant Trading in Virginia, VWEA / VA-AWWA, Virginia Beach, VA, September 2019 (J. Curtis)
  • Endgame: Can Our Phase III Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan Meet Our Bay Restoration Goals?, Maryland Association of Counties, Ocean City, MD, August 2019 (L. Ochsenhirt)
  • Regulatory Compliance Strategies for NexGen Municipal Stormwater Programs, Pennsylvania Water Environment Association, State College, PA, June 2019 (J. Curtis)
  • Virginia’s New Fresh Water Ammonia Standards: Survival is Possible, VWEA Operations Conference, Harrisonburg, VA, June 2019 (E. Egen)
  • Water Policy Advocacy, MA Coalition for Water Resources Stewardship, Marlborough, MA, May 2019 (C. Pomeroy)
  • Cooperative Federalism 2.0 – Opportunities Abound for Your Utilities and Your Clients, Wet Weather Partnership Workshop, Louisville, KY, April 2019 (P. Calamita)
  • Holler n’ Swaller: Identifying and Addressing Unregulated Contaminants Affecting PWSs, Utility Management Conference, Nashville, TN, March 2019 (P. Calamita)
  • Cutting Edge Stormwater Permitting Developments, Wet Weather Partnership, Louisville, KY, April 2019 (C. Pomeroy)
  • Virginia Water Resources Legislation in 2019 General Assembly Session, Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments,Washington, DC, January 2019 (L. Ochsenhirt)
  • Change is Constant: Thoughts on Today’s Regulatory Environment, Chesapeake Water Environment Association, Linthicum Heights, MD, December 2018 (R. Sweeney)
  • Water Quality Credit Trading, Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, Washington, DC, November 2018 (C. Pomeroy)
  • Clean Water Act Stormwater Regulation Primer, Natl Assn Clean Water Agencies, San Diego, CA, November 2018 (C. Pomeroy)
  • Intergovernmental Hot Corner: Regulatory Developments, Common Pitfalls, Ethical Considerations Affecting Pretreatment Programs, NC Pretreatment Consortium Conference, Wrightsville Beach, NC, September 2018 (P. Calamita)
  • The Water Regulatory Environment, VWEA / VA-AWWA Keynote, Virginia Beach, VA, September 2018 (C. Pomeroy)
  • Massachusetts and New Hampshire MS4 General Permit Appeals: MS4s’ Perspective, Association of Clean Water Administrators Legal Affairs Committee, September 2018 (J. Curtis)
  • Pretreatment, Data Collection, Collection Systems, & Sewer Overflow Reporting Best Practices Workshop, South Carolina Water Quality Association, Columbia, SC, September 2018 (J. Curtis)
  • Like a Bridge Over Troubled Water: Know Your Water Law, 2019 Maryland Association of Counties, August 2018 (L. Ochsenhirt)
  • HRSD SWIFT Injection Program: One Initiative, Many Benefits, Chesapeake AWWA / CWEA , Ocean City, MD, August 2018 (C. Pomeroy)
  • Tension Points for Biosolids, 2018 Mid-Atlantic Biosolids Association, July 2018 (L. Ochsenhirt)
  • Integrated Planning and Adaptive Management Implementation in Local utility Compliance Programs, PennTec 2018, Hershey, PA, June 2018 (P. Calamita)
  • Pipeline Permitting After MVP and ACP, Virginia Oil & Gas Association, Virginia Beach, VA, June 2018 (C. Pomeroy)
  • The Art of the Sewer Deal, Wet Weather Partnership Workshop, Cincinnati, OH, May 2018 (P. Calamita)
  • Waters of the United States: Demystifying WOTUS, Environment Virginia Symposium, Lexington, VA, April 2018 (J. Curtis)
  • Water Quality Trading in Virginia at the Chesapeake Bay TMDL Midpoint, Environment Virginia Symposium, Lexington, VA, April 2018 (J. Curtis)
  • Water and Wastewater Legislative and Regulatory Update, Virginia Municipal League Insurance Forum, Roanoke, VA, March 2018 (J. Curtis)
  • Virginia Legislation Impacting Stormwater and Wastewater in 2018 General Assembly Session, Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, Washington, DC, January 2018 (L. Ochsenhirt)
  • Stormwater: Too Simple?, Chesapeake Water Environment Association, Linthicum, MD, December 2017 (L. Ochsenhirt)
  • From the Bench: A Federal and State Legal Update, Maryland Association of Counties, Cambridge, MD, December 2017 (L. Ochsenhirt)
  • Stormwater Primer, National Association of Clean Water Agencies, Savannah, GA, November 2017 (C. Pomeroy, J. Curtis)
  • Regulatory Challenge: Balancing Biosolids Recycling with Watershed Management, Mid-Atlantic Biosolids Association, July 2017 (L. Ochsenhirt)
  • Legal, Policy, and Funding Issues with Private I/I Reduction Programs, Water Environment Foundation, National Webinar, June 2017 (L. Ochsenhirt)
  • Municipal Enforcement Strategies During the Trump Administration, Consent Decree Modifications and Leading Clean Water Act Cases, Wet Weather Partnership Workshop, Indianapolis, IN, May 2017 (P. Calamita)
  • Biosolids Regulatory Update, Virginia Water Environment Association, Richmond, VA, May 2017 (J. Curtis)
  • Allocations for Water Withdrawals and Wastewater Discharges, VML Insurance Water Forum, Roanoke, VA, March 2017 (C. Pomeroy)
  • Virginia Legislative Issues, Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, Washington, DC, January 2017 (L. Ochsenhirt)