Stephan B. Rogers has extensive experience in disputes involving surface water and groundwater, as well as littoral and riparian (lake and shoreline) rights, both as an advocate of reasonable water use regulations and as a defender of individual property rights in waterfront property.

He was the first General Counsel of the multi-county Edwards Aquifer Authority (EAA), and led the legal team that successfully defended the constitutionality of the EAA Act in the Texas Supreme Court.  Barshop v. Medina County Underground Water Conservation District, 925 S.W.2d 618 (Tex. 1996).

He led the legal team that successfully took action, in both district court and at the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (now the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality), against the “Catfish Farm,” an aquaculture facility in southern Bexar County that was using millions of gallons per day of pure Edwards Aquifer water to supply and flush wastes from densely-stocked catfish tanks into the Medina River.

He represented the Edwards Underground Water District (predecessor of the EAA), in the Endangered Species Act litigation wherein United States District Judge Lucius Bunton threatened to wield the “blunt axe of federal power” to take over the Edwards Aquifer to protect endangered species at Comal Springs and San Marcos Springs.

Most recently, he represented the Medina Lake Waterfront Property Owners Association (WPOA), a group of waterfront owners around Medina Lake (Bandera and Medina Counties) whose property rights were threatened by the local irrigation district which operates the lake.  The litigation brought by the WPOA resulted in a settlement agreement and consent decree that cleared the ownership rights of participating waterfront property owners while providing for land use controls to protect water quality in the lake.

Below is a more detailed summary of Stephan B. Rogers’ water law experience:

1. •Represented a developer trying to get BexarMet to finalize and perform a utility service agreement for a residential subdivision.
   

2. •Represented over 200 waterfront property owners at Medina Lake in a suit against Bexar-Medina-Atascosa Counties Water Control & Improvement District No. 1 to resolve disputed ownership of lands below the high-water line of the lake; reached a favorable settlement securing ownership for the owners.
   

3. •Outside environmental counsel for San Antonio Water System (“SAWS”) 1998-2003.
   

4. •Represented Dallas Area Rapid Transit on appeal in a $40 million property damage case arising from alleged diversion of surface water and flooding of a downtown Dallas skyscraper.
   

5. •General Counsel of the Edwards Aquifer Authority (“EAA”) 1996-97.  Worked on the drafting of the Authority's original rules governing filing and processing of permit applications and critical period management, and advised the Authority on numerous administrative and water law related issues.
   

6. •Represented the initial Board of Directors of  the EAA (1996-96) in trial and on direct appeal to the Texas Supreme Court in Medina County Underground Water Conservation District v. Barshop, successfully defending the constitutionality of the legislation creating the EAA.
   

7. •Represented the Edwards Underground Water District ("EUWD"), the predecessor of the EAA (1990-94).  Lead Counsel in the lawsuit brought by the EUWD (along with San Antonio River Authority and City of San Antonio) against Living Water Artesian Springs, Ltd. (the "Catfish Farm") to stop pollution of Medina River and the waste of groundwater. 
   

8. •Lead Counsel for the EUWD in contested case proceedings before the TNRCC relating to the Catfish Farm's application for an industrial wastewater discharge permit.
   

9. •Lead Counsel for the EUWD in litigation successfully seeking closure of an open, dilapidated well (the "Farmer's Well" or "Well J-21") flowing large amounts of aquifer water into Salado Creek. 
   

10. •Drafted major portions of the EUWD's Demand Management Plan, including regulations on administrative procedure, metering, usage reporting, critical stages, variances, and enforcement provisions.
    

11. •Lead Counsel for the EUWD in the Endangered Species Act trial in federal court, Sierra Club v. Babbitt, and related litigation seeking the imposition of judicial controls on aquifer pumping in order to maintain springflow at Comal and San Marcos Springs.
    

12. •Lead Counsel for the EUWD in contested case proceedings before the TNRCC relating to a change sought in authorized uses for Medina Lake water with a potential negative impact on Aquifer recharge.