DTW Conveners

The Conveners are Justices, Judges, Special Masters, or Federal Water Masters with experience in water law, and who are deeply committed to developing educational resources for other judicial officers with water law cases. These resources range from quarterly webinars to on-line/on demand fundamentals courses to in-person conferences offered approximately every 18 months, as well as written materials. 

Hon. Kate Appleby, Executive Chair, has been a Convener since 2017. She was the trial judge for a general stream adjudication filed in 1936. In 2014, she was appointed to the Utah Court of Appeals, but after retiring in 2020, continues serving as a Senior Judge; she was elected Executive Chair of Dividing the Waters in 2024.  Appleby earned a B.S. in Anthropology and an M.A. in Archeology from the University of Utah, then a J.D. from the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law. 

Hon. C. Shannon Bacon  has been a Convener since 2019. Her water law experience includes being the Bernalillo County Water Judge and Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District Judge. She was appointed to the New Mexico Supreme Court in 2019 and was Chief Justice until spring 2024. Before that, she was a judge of the Second Judicial District Court, including serving as its Presiding Civil Judge. Bacon earned a B.A. in History as well as a J.D. from Creighton University. 

Hon. Maria E. Berkenkotter  has been a Convener for a couple of years. She was appointed to the Colorado Supreme Court in 2022 and was a District Court Judge for 11 years, including four years as Chief Judge.  She retired from the District Court in 2017, and continued as a “judicial coach,” for Judicial Arbiter Group, until her Supreme Court appointment. Among other things, Berkenkotter worked in the Colorado Attorney General’s Office where she led the Antitrust, Consumer Protection, and Tobacco Litigation Units.  Berkenkotter earned a B.A. from Western Michigan University, and a J.D. from the University of Denver. 

Hon. Stephen Brown  has been a Convener since 2024. He has been on the Montana Water Court since 2019 and now is its Chief Water Judge. The court has exclusive jurisdiction to adjudicate all water claims in Montana. Before his appointment to the Water Court, Brown was in private practice with a focus on water and natural resources law. He earned a B.S. in geology from Whitworth College, then a J.D. from Lewis and Clark Law School. 

Hon. Ronald Robie  has been a Convener since 2004. Before his service as an appellate and trial court judge, Robie was a distinguished California water leader, starting as the first State Assembly committee consultant on water. He was a member of the State Water Resources Control Board and Director of the Department of Water Resources. Robie has taught and written extensively about water law. Robie earned a B.A. in English-Journalism from the University of California Berkeley, an M.J. in Journalism, and a J.D. from University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law. 

Hon. John Schlegelmilch  has been a Convener since 2020.  He began his legal career as a Nevada Deputy District Attorney, followed by private practice in Nevada. Schlegelmilch was elected to the Third Judicial District Court and took office in January 2015. He graduated from the University of Nevada with a dual B.A. degree in Speech Communication and Political Science; he earned his J.D. from Willamette University College of Law. 

Hon. Debra J. Stephens  has been a Convener since 2015. She is a Washington State Supreme Court Justice who promotes science training for judges and has participated in several critical water decisions, on topics ranging from municipal water law to instream flows and tribal water rights. Before her election to the Supreme Court, Stephens served on the Court of Appeals in Spokane. Stephens received her undergraduate degree in Philosophy, along with a concentration in International Studies, and then a J.D. from Gonzaga University.  

Hon. John Thorson  co-founded Dividing the Waters in 1993, when he was the Special Master for the Arizona general stream adjudications.  Thorson was an assistant chief administrative law judge for the California Public Utilities Commission and now serves as Federal Water Master for the U.S. District Court (E.D. Wash.). He has more than 35 years’ experience as a water attorney, writer, and consultant, and has published numerous books and articles. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of New Mexico, a doctorate in public administration from the University of Southern California, and a J.D. from the Berkeley, University of California School of Law. 

Hon. Eric Wildman  has been a Convener since 2010. He is the presiding water judge for the State of Idaho Snake River Basin Adjudication (SRBA). Since completion of the SRBA in 2014, Wildman continues to resolve SRBA conflicts and similar general stream adjudications throughout Idaho, including in the Coeur d’Alene–Spokane Basin, the Palouse River Basin, the Clark Fork-Pend Orielle River Basin, and the Bear River Basin. He will soon preside over the Kootenai River Basin adjudication. Wildman earned a B.S. in Economics from the University of Utah, and a J.D. from the University of Idaho College of Law. 

Hon. Sherri Zendri  has been a Convener since 2024. She is an Arizona Special Water Master assigned to the General Stream Adjudication Department in Phoenix, Arizona. She has extensive experience in government work, including serving as Regional Compliance Manager, then Administrative Counsel for the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. She earned a B.S. in Geology with a minor in Marine Sciences from Pennsylvania State University, an M.P.A. from Arizona State University, and a J.D. from the University of Arizona.