Days
to
Course Location
Missoula, MT
Course Fees
Tuition
$1119
Conference Fee
$359
The 2025 Dividing the Waters Conference will address a range of water issues arising in this part of the Columbia River watershed, in Missoula (MT) and nearby Flathead Lake (Flathead River watershed). The field day will include visits to UMT Flathead Lake Biological Research Station and the downstream reservation for the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes.
DTW has secured a room block at $249 per night. Details will be emailed after registration.
This conference is open to judges only.
Schedule
Wed: Pre-conference workshop is 9-3, Opening Reception: 5:30 pm
Thu: 8 - 5; Dinner at 7 pm
Fri: Field Day - 8:30 to 6 pm ish
Sat: 8:30-Noon
Conference fee is mandatory and includes the opening reception, 3 breakfasts, 2 lunches, conference dinner (Thur), and field day.
Since Y2K, western water conflicts – and the law underlying those conflicts – have evolved and expanded. Water infrastructure developed in the 20th Century to address then-current water management issues. It served its purpose then, but raised new issues as it aged and the world changed in the 21st Century. In the first quarter of this century, urban growth required more water, often drawing on water traditionally used by agriculture. Climate change has led to extreme drought in much of the West and, in some cases, extreme floods. Courts see more complex water cases on their dockets. Several states created water judge systems of various designs, which requires education for judges on water law and science. That’s where the 2025 Dividing the Waters Conference comes in.
At this year’s Water Law at the Quarter Century conference, the National Judicial College’s Dividing the Waters Program will explore the developments and the stressors on long-standing water law principles. Panel discussions will address the Prior Appropriation Doctrine (“first in time, first in right”), instream flow requirements, the Winters Doctrine for tribal water rights, and federal reserved rights generally. The conference also includes:
Flathead Lake Field Day. Conferees will spend a day in the field visiting the Flathead Lake region, including the Flathead Lake Biological Station and the Flathead River dam managed by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.
Pre-Conference Workshop on Parties & Science. Optional small-group session where conferees will share and learn best practices for general stream adjudications. They will discuss how best to manage thousands of water-right claimants and adjudicate conflicts over water science.
Milltown Dam Field Visit. Interested conferees who arrive early will go just upstream to the Milltown Dam Superfund site, where federal and state authorities have remediated century-old mining contamination.
Course $1119
Conference Fee $359
Scholarship assistance makes NJC courses more affordable for judges.
During this course, you will learn to:
- Manage a complex adjudication or settlement of conflicts regarding federal and state water rights, applying statutory changes to the common-law Prior Appropriation Doctrine.
- Assess biological science and water quality chemistry to judge impacts on and needs of fishery resources.
- Apply the Winters Doctrine for federal reserved water rights, including for the needs of tribes for water diversions and instream flow.
Distinguished Faculty: The faculty will consist of scientists, water administrators, water lawyers and judges with wide-ranging experience in water litigation and management in the Western United States
- Hon. Kate Appleby, DTW Executive Chair (UT Court of Appeals)
- Hon. John Thorson, Founder/Convener, Dividing the Waters
- Hon. Shannon Bacon, NM Supreme Court
- Hon. Maria Berkenkotter, CO Supreme Court
- Hon. Stephen Brown, MT Water Court
- Hon. Ronald Robie, CA Court of Appeal
- Hon. John Schlegelmilch, Third Judicial District Court, Lyon County, NV
- Hon. Debra Stephens, WA Supreme Court
- Hon. Eric Wildman, ID District Court, Twin Falls, ID
- Hon. Sherri Zendri, Special Master, Arizona Water Court
- Sandi Zellmer, UMT Water Law Professor
Participants will be responsible for their own travel and lodging.
The 2025 Dividing the Waters Conference will address a range of water issues arising in this part of the Columbia River watershed, in Missoula (MT) and nearby Flathead Lake (Flathead River watershed). The field day will include visits to UMT Flathead Lake Biological Research Station and the downstream reservation for the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes.
DTW has secured a room block at $249 per night. Details will be emailed after registration.
This conference is open to judges only.
Schedule
Wed: Pre-conference workshop is 9-3, Opening Reception: 5:30 pm
Thu: 8 - 5; Dinner at 7 pm
Fri: Field Day - 8:30 to 6 pm ish
Sat: 8:30-Noon
Conference fee is mandatory and includes the opening reception, 3 breakfasts, 2 lunches, conference dinner (Thur), and field day.
Since Y2K, western water conflicts – and the law underlying those conflicts – have evolved and expanded. Water infrastructure developed in the 20th Century to address then-current water management issues. It served its purpose then, but raised new issues as it aged and the world changed in the 21st Century. In the first quarter of this century, urban growth required more water, often drawing on water traditionally used by agriculture. Climate change has led to extreme drought in much of the West and, in some cases, extreme floods. Courts see more complex water cases on their dockets. Several states created water judge systems of various designs, which requires education for judges on water law and science. That’s where the 2025 Dividing the Waters Conference comes in.
At this year’s Water Law at the Quarter Century conference, the National Judicial College’s Dividing the Waters Program will explore the developments and the stressors on long-standing water law principles. Panel discussions will address the Prior Appropriation Doctrine (“first in time, first in right”), instream flow requirements, the Winters Doctrine for tribal water rights, and federal reserved rights generally. The conference also includes:
Flathead Lake Field Day. Conferees will spend a day in the field visiting the Flathead Lake region, including the Flathead Lake Biological Station and the Flathead River dam managed by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.
Pre-Conference Workshop on Parties & Science. Optional small-group session where conferees will share and learn best practices for general stream adjudications. They will discuss how best to manage thousands of water-right claimants and adjudicate conflicts over water science.
Milltown Dam Field Visit. Interested conferees who arrive early will go just upstream to the Milltown Dam Superfund site, where federal and state authorities have remediated century-old mining contamination.