Attorney
Smith Hartvigsen
Bio:
Nathan is a water and land use attorney at Smith Hartvigsen, PLLC, where he represents irrigation companies, public water suppliers, developers, and conservation groups on water and land use issues. A trained mediator, he works with state and local policymakers to develop polies aimed at ensuring a sustainable water future for Utah. With respect to Great Salt Lake, Nathan chaired the subcommittee that developed legal recommendations for the 2020 “HCR 10” report, which the Legislature commissioned to identify ways to ensure adequate flows for Great Salt Lake. He also chaired the drafting committee that developed Utah’s Water Banking Act, which the Legislature passed unanimously in 2020. Previously, he was the Assistant Director and General Counsel for the Western States Water Council, where he worked with water managers from Utah and 17 other western states to develop strategies and policies on western water issues.
Nathan was recently named as the President of Utah’s American Water Resources Association Section and to the Utah Land Use and Eminent Domain Advisory Board. He also serves as an ex officio member of the Board of Trustees for the Utah Association of Special Districts and on the Board Advisors for the National Judicial College’s Dividing the Waters Program, which educates judges from around the country on water issues. He speaks frequently on western water issues and has published research on a variety of topics, including the Western Governors Association’s publication, Water Transfers in the West, which identified ways to address the impacts of “buy-and-dry” transfers that move water permanently out of agriculture.
Among other recognitions, Utah Business Magazine has repeatedly recognized Nathan as a “Legal Elite” for Energy and Natural Resources. The Nature Conservancy also awarded him its Utah Conservation Partner Award for 2020.
Nathan is a graduate of the University of Utah’s S.J. Quinney College of Law and Brigham Young University.
Title: Agriculture, Conservation & Water for Great Salt Lake
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