Water & Land Use Attorney

Smith Hartvigsen, PLLC

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 policies 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: Let’s Get to It: Working Together to Enhance and Preserve Great Salt Lake

Abstract: In recent years, the water community and the Legislature have developed a number of tools that allow or facilitate the use of water rights in Great Salt Lake to benefit lake levels, including the Water Banking Act, split season leasing, and fixed-time change applications, among others. Similarly, the water community has developed a series of reports that outline possible options that could enhance and preserve the Lake, such as Governor Herbert’s 2017 Recommended Water Strategy and two reports in 2020 by the so-called “HCR 10 Committee” and the Great Salt Lake Advisory Council that identified specific strategies to benefit the Lake. Utah’s political leaders have also made Great Salt Lake a priority, as evidenced by Speaker Brad Wilson’s January 2022 Great Salt Lake Summit. Although more work is needed, we now have more tools, resources, and political support than ever before to address declining lake levels. This presentation will discuss the work that is already underway to support Great Salt Lake and will identify the next steps needed to preserve and enhance the Lake.