Michael D. White

Sandy White has assumed senior status as a partner of the Denver law firm of White & Jankowski, LLP — not quite retired but excused from most litigation and travel, as well as regular office hours. He resides on a small acreage near La Veta, Colorado, and splits his time between there and the firm's offices in Denver. The firm and its clients continue to benefit from his over thirty-five years of experience as a water, environmental, and land use lawyer.

He was educated at the United States Military Academy, West Point (B.S., 1963). During and after military service as an Air Force intelligence officer (1963-67), he graduated from the University of Southern California (M.S., 1967), and the Cornell Law School (J.D., 1970). A member of the Colorado (1970) and Wyoming (1977) bars, he is admitted to practice before several federal courts, including the United States Supreme Court.

Sandy has tried over one hundred complex cases (each with between fifteen and several thousand parties and each lasting several weeks to a year), settled many more, briefed and argued roughly thirty cases before state and federal appellate courts, including the United States Supreme Court, served as a Master-Referee for the Colorado Water Courts, acted as an expert witness in his areas of specialty, trained as a mediator, taught in law and graduate schools and authored over three dozen articles, papers, and books. He is a frequent speaker at professional programs (over one hundred in seventeen states), and is the past chairman of the water law section and of the environmental law section of the Colorado Bar Association. He is currently listed both as a Colorado "Super Lawyer" and in The Best Lawyers in America. He is a recipient of the "Water Buffalo" award given by the Water Law Section of the Colorado Bar Association.

He and his wife of over forty-five years, Mary, have three grown children and several grandchildren. In the past his community service included participation and board membership in the Boy Scouts, his church, a school board, a water district, alumni organizations, and an environmental institute, in addition to a variety of other charitable organizations and activities. Currently, his expanded interests include hunting, fishing, sporting clays, and golfing, as well as historical research and writing on the American army during the fifty years before the Civil War.

Water & Riparian Rights

Litigation & Appeals

United States District Court, District of Colorado, 1970

United States Supreme Court, 1974

United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit, 1986

Cornell Law School, Ithaca, New York, 1970

University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, 1967

United States Military Academy, West Point, New York, 1963

• Paper, Complex Water Litigation: Disclosure, Discovery, Settlement, ABA 20th Annual Water Law Conference, San Diego, California (February 21-22, 2002)

• Paper, Recent Court Decisions Influencing the Future of Water Use, 26th Annual Colorado Water Workshop, Gunnison, Colorado (July 25-27, 2001)

• Dividing the Waters V: A Conference for Judges, Masters & Referees Involved in Western General Stream Adjudications; Determining Federal Reserved Water Rights: Indian Reservations, Ashland and Klamath Falls, Oregon (April 14-17, 1999)

• City of Thornton v. Bijou Irrigation Co.: The Thornton Northern Project, presented at the Colorado Water Congress Convention, January 30, 1997, Northglenn, Colorado, The Colorado Lawyer, Vol. 26, No. 2, p. 67 (1997)

• Effective Use of Hydrologic Models in Water Rights Litigation, panelist, 11th Annual Water Law Conference, ABA, San Diego, CA, condensed for publication as Effective Use of Computer Models in Water Rights Litigation, ABA Section of Natural Resources, Energy and Environmental Law, Water Law Trends, Policies and Practice, p. 23 et seq. (1995)

• Water Quality Exchanges, presented at the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Thirty-Ninth Annual Institute, July 25, 1993, 39 RMMLI 19-1 (1993)

• McCarran Amendment Adjudications -- Problems, Solutions, Alternatives, reprinted in 25 Pub. Land & Resources L. Digest 120, 1988, 22 Land & Water L. Rev. 619-629 (1987)

• Engineering Aspects of Water Law, co-authored with Leonard Rice (John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1987)

• McCarran Amendment Adjudications -- Problems, Solutions and Alternatives, No. 2 Land and Water Review 619, XXII (1987) (paper initially presented at the Western Water Rights Symposium, University of Wyoming College of Law and Wyoming Water Research Center, Jackson, WY, February 28, 1987)

• The Water Wheel Doctrine Goes Underground, Commentary, Western Natural Resource Lit. Digest, Summer, p. 25 (1984)

• The Future Development of Western Water Law, paper presented at annual meeting of the American Fishery Society, Western Division, Tucson, July 13, 1977, published in Instream Flow Information Paper: No. 2, Cooperative Instream Flow Service Group (September, 1977)

• Book Review: Land Use Planning, Cases and Materials, 2d ed., by E.F. Roberts, 48 U. Colo. L. Rev. 641 (1977)

• Land Use Legislation: HB 1034 and HB 1041, co-authored with R. L. Petros, 6 Colorado Lawyer 1686 (1977)

• Chapter, Water Law, 1977 Annual Survey of Colorado Law (Continuing Legal Education in Colorado, Inc. 1977)

• Chapter, Colorado Water Law -- An Overview, Colorado Water Law (Continuing Legal Education in Colorado, Inc. 1977)

• Colorado Water Law Developments (1976), 10 Natural Resources Lawyer (1977)

• Chapter, Water Law, 1975 Annual Survey of Colorado Law, 1976, and chapter in 1976 Annual Survey of Colorado Law (Continuing Legal Education in Colorado, Inc. 1977)

• Energy Development in the West: Conflict and Coordination of Governmental Decision-Making, co-authored with Hamlet J. Barry III, 52 N. Dak. L. Rev. 451 (1976)

• Legal Constraints and Responses to the Allocation and Distribution of Water, presented at Water Needs for the Future: Colorado, the United States and the World, October 8, 1976, College of Law, University of Denver, 6 Den. J. Int'l Law & Pol. 341 (1976)

• Chapter, The Impact on Water Rights on Land Use Regulation and Control, Colorado Water Law Practice, Program of Advanced Professional Development of the University of Denver, College of Law (1976)

• Colorado Water Law Developments (1975), 9 Natural Resources Lawyer 319, 327 (1976)

• Water & Energy Development: Changes in Existing Water Rights, Problems Under State Water, Environmental & Land Use Laws, paper presented at conf. sponsored by ABA, entitled Water Law Issues, 75, Denver, CO, February 7, 1975, reprinted at 13 The Public Land & Resource Law Digest, 160, (1976) & appearing in 8 Natural Resources Lwyr, 359 (1975)

• Chapter, Colorado Land Use Law, Colorado Environmental Law, updated for Environmental Law II, 1976 (Continuing Legal Education in Colorado, Inc., 1975)

• South Dakota Land Use Law: Implementation of Local Comprehensive Plans in Rural Areas, pamphlet (South Dakota State University 1975)

• Colorado Water Law Developments (1973-74), 8 Natural Resources Lawyer 151, 158 (1975)

• Chapter, Introduction to Water Practice, Colorado Water Law (Continuing Legal Education in Colorado, Inc., 1974)

• Water as a Tool in Land Use Control, Legal Considerations: An Exploratory Essay, 20 RMMLI 671 (presented at the 20th Annual Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Institute, San Francisco, July 13, 1974)

• Report on Water Law Developments: Colorado, (1972-73), 6 Natural Resources Lawyer 439, 443 (1973)

• Report on Water Law Developments: Colorado, (1971-72), 5 Natural Resources Lawyer 501, 513 (1972)

• Colorado Water Developments, contained in the report by the Water Law Committee of the American Bar Association's Section on Natural Resources Law (1970-1971)

• A Guide to the Examination of Water Tabulations, 47 Denver L. J. 213 (1970)

• Legal Planning for the Transfer of Water Between River Basins, co-authored with C. P. Eddy, 55 Cornell L. Rev. 809 (1970)

• Legal Education in Natural Resources, co-authored R. L. Parcel, 15 Student Lawyer, No. 5, p. 30 (January, 1970)

• Reasonable State Regulation of the Interstate Transfer of Percolating Water, 2 Natural Resources 383 (1969)

• City of Thornton v. City & County of Denver, 44 P.3d 1019 (Colo. 2002)

• City of Thornton v. Bijou Irr. Co., 926 P.2d 1 (Colo. 1996)

• In re: General Adjudication of Big Horn River Sys., 899 P.2d 848 (Wyo. 1995)

• City of Thornton v. Clear Creek Water Users Alliance, 859 P.2d 1348 (Colo. 1993)

• Public Service Co. of Colorado v. Willows Water Dist., 856 P.2d 829 (Colo. 1993)

• City of Thornton By & Through Utilities Bd. v. City of Ft. Collins, 830 P.2d 915 (Colo. 1992)

• City & County of Denver By & Through Bd. of Water Comm'rs v. City of Englewood, 826 P.2d 1266 (Colo. 1992)

• In re: General Adjudication of Big Horn River Sys., 835 P.2d 273 (Wyo. 1992)

• Wyoming v. United States, 492 U.S. 406 (1989)

• People ex rel. Danielson v. City of Thornton, 775 P.2d 11 (Colo. 1989)

• City of Westminster v. City of Broomfield, 769 P.2d 490 (Colo. 1989)

• In re: General Adjudication of Big Horn River Sys., 753 P.2d 76 (Wyo. 1988)

• Denver v. Colorado River Water Conservation Dist., 696 P.2d 730 (Colo. 1985)

• Alamosa-La Jara Water Users Protection Association v. Gould (In the Matter of Rules and Regulations Governing Use, Control, and Protection of Water Rights for both Surface and Underground Water Located in Rio Grande and Conejos River Basins and their Tributaries), 674 P.2d 914 (Colo. 1983)

• Colorado Dept. of Natural Resources, Div. of Water Resources, State Engineer v. Southwestern Colorado Water Conservation Dist., 671 P.2d 1294 (Colo. 1983)

• United States v. Denver, 656 P.2d 1 (Colo. 1983)

• Rocky Mountain Power Co. v. Colorado River Water Conservation Dist., 646 P.2d 383 (Colo. 1982)

• Colorado River Water Conservation Dist. v. Municipal Subdistrict, 610 P.2d 81 (Colo. 1979)

• Board of County Comm'rs of Delta County v. Goldenrod Corp., 601 P.2d 360 (Colo. App. 1979)

• Information Please, Inc. v. Board of County Comm'rs of Morgan County, 600 P.2d 86 (Colo. App. 1979)

• Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy Dist. v. Huston, 593 P.2d 1347 (Colo. 1979)

• Page v. Clark, 592 P.2d 792 (Colo. 1979)

• Kuiper v. Gould (Matter of Rules and Regulations Governing Water Rights in Rio Grande & Conejos River Basins), 583 P.2d 910 (Colo. 1978)

• Telluride Co. v. Division Eng'r In & For Water Div. No. 4, 575 P.2d 1297 (Colo. 1978)

• Information Please, Inc. v. District Court In & For Morgan County, 568 P.2d 1162 (Colo. 1977)

• Public Service Co. of Colorado v. Signs, 520 P.2d 589 (Colo. 1974)

• Bond v. Twin Lakes Reservoir & Canal Co., 496 P.2d 311 (Colo. 1972)

• City of Thornton, Colorado

• State of Wyoming

• The Oil Shale Corporation (TOSCO)

• Stillwater Resources & Investment, Inc.

• Adjunct Faculty, Water Law, University of Colorado School of Law, Boulder, 1975 - 1978

• Associate Professor of Environmental and Natural Resources Law, College of Engineering, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 1973 - 1978

• Adjunct Faculty, Water Law, Land Use and Real Property Law, University of Denver College of Law, 1972 - 1983

• Adjunct Faculty, Environmental Resources Law, University of Denver, University College, 1993 - 1994

• Water Quality Exchanges: The Colorado Experience, 16th Annual Water Law Conference, San Diego, CA, February 19-20, 1998

• Water Transfers, CLE International Western Water Law Conference, Denver, CO, March 6, 1997 and March 5, 1998

• Panel Member, Marketing Indian Water Rights Off Reservations, Colorado River - Gateway to the 21st Century, Colorado River Water Users Ass'n. Annual Conference, Las Vegas, NV, December 18-20, 1996

• Municipal Conversion of Agricultural Water Rights: Sacred Cows or Stalking Horses, Joint Water and Agricultural Law Sections Program, Colorado Bar Convention, Keystone, CO, September 8, 1995

• Careers in Environmental Law, Engineering Career Exploration Day, Colorado State University, October 1, 1994

• The Thornton Transfer and Exchange Decree, Advanced Water Resources Seminar, University of Colorado School of Law, February 24, 1994

• Reallocation of Water from Agricultural to Municipal Use, 1993 Annual Water Law and Water Policy Conference, The Institute for Advanced Legal Studies, November 13, 1993

• Colorado Water Quality Exchanges, Annual Conference, Breckenridge, CO, Special District Association of Colorado, September 24, 1993

• Water Exchanges--A New Fracas East of the Divide, Symposium on Basin Planning & Management: Water Quantity and Quality, American Water Resources Association, Colorado Section, Thornton, CO, March 5, 1993

• Trans-Basin Water Transfers--The San Luis Valley and Beyond, Symposium on Western Water Law and Policy Implications for Wetland and Riparian Ecosystems, Society of Wetland Scientists, Rocky Mountain Chapter, Lakewood, CO, February 25, 1993

• Panelist, How Thirsty Will We Be if We Persist in Business as Usual?, 12th Annual Thornton Symposium, May 8, 1992

• Panelist, Thornton's Northern Project: Triumph or Tragedy, Water & Economics Symposium, Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce, October 21, 1991

• Rural Impacts of Water Marketing in Colorado's Future, Water Marketing in Colorado's Future: Debate and Analysis, Institute for Advanced Legal Studies, University of Denver College of Law, October 11, 1991

• Issues in Water Transfer Law, Water Transfers in Colorado: Part of the Solution or Part of the Problem?, Natural Resources Law Center, University of Colorado School of Law and the Natural Resources and Environment Section, Boulder County Bar Association, Boulder, CO, April 20, 1991

• Water Right Litigation, Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation's Special Institute on Natural Resources Litigation, Denver, CO, December 7-8, 1989

• Panelist, Water Issues, Annual Conference, Boulder, CO, National Association of Environmental Law Society, January 26-28, 1989

• Ethical Considerations in Litigating General Stream Adjudications, General Stream Adjudications: Legal and Policy Aspects, ABA Section of Natural Resources Law, Boise, ID, April 13-14, 1988

• How Colorado Water Law Really Works, What are Reserved Rights and Who Has Them? and The Law of Groundwater Allocation, water law short course, IF300, National Ecology Service, U.S. Forest Service, Glenwood Springs, CO, February 4-5, 1987

• Water Rights Issues in Colorado or What the Rocky Mountain News Never Knew, Colorado-Wyoming Society of American Foresters, Mile High Chapter, January 7, 1987

• Panel Member, Resolution of Indian Water Right Claims, Western States Water Council, Denver, CO, April 10, 1986

• Discussion Leader, Implied Legislative Waiver of Indian Reserved Water Rights by Congressional Establishment of Irrigation Projects, Conference of Western Attorneys General, Reserved Rights Study Session, Denver, CO, April 9, 1986

• Introduction to Federal Reserved Rights and Survey of Groundwater Law, Water Law Short Course (IFG-300), Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Dept. of Interior, Washington, D.C.

• Groundwater Rights, Water Rights Workshop, National Park Service, Fort Collins, CO, October 30, 1985

• Indian Reserved Right Litigation - Pragmatic Perspectives from the State Viewpoint, Annual Meeting, Interstate Conference on Water Problems, Big Sky, MT, August 22, 1985

• Unresolved Issues in Federal Reserved Rights, Western Water Law in Transition Conference, University of Colorado School of Law, June 3-5, 1985

• Practical Perspectives on Reserved Right Litigation, Workshop for Water Resources Board, State of Alaska, Juneau, March 1985

• The Availability of Water for the Shale Oil Industry, Energy Bureau, Inc., Conference on the Shale Oil Industry, Denver, CO, May 18-19, 1982

• Water Availability in the Colorado River Basin, Energy Bureau, Inc., Conference on Water for Western Energy Development, Denver, CO, May 6-7, 1982

• Speaker/Moderator, Water Resources Expert Witness Seminar, Dahl-Lamb Associates, Phoenix, AZ, March 1, 1982

• Techniques for Evaluation and Need for Proof in Complex Water Adjudications, Seminar on Complex General Adjudications of Water Rights, Western States Water Council, Los Angeles, CA, September 17, 1982

• Instream Flow Negotiation: Review of Practices, seminars performed for Instream Flows and Aquatic Systems Group, Office of Biological Services, Fish & Wildlife Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, Many locations, 1979-1980

• Federal Reserved Rights, Indian Water Rights, and Ground Water Law Doctrines, presented at various Water Law Short Courses for U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Cooperative Instream Flow Service Group, and Natural Resources Law Institute, Many locations, 1978, 1979, 1983

• Water Policy Issues, American Society of Public Administration, Colorado Chapter, Denver, CO, November 2, 1978

• Legal Issues in Coal Slurry Pipelines, ALI-ABA Course of Study, Energy & the Law-Problems & Challenges of the Late '70's, University of Colorado School of Law, Boulder, CO, July 9-14, 1978

• Federal Reserved Rights and Indian Rights, presented at short course entitled Water Law: An Overview of Western Water Law with Emphasis on the Protection of Instream Flows, Albuquerque, NM, March 28-30, 1978

• The Role of the Expert Witness in Water Litigation and The Reservation Doctrine: Development, Cases, and Relevance to Instream Flows, papers presented at Water Law Short Course, Natural Resources Law Institute/U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Portland, OR, November 30, December 1, 1977

• U.S. Reserved Rights from the States' Perspective, Conference on Current Developments Affecting Natural Resources on Public Lands, Utah State Bar/Federal Bar Association, Salt Lake City, UT, October 27-28, 1977

• South Dakota Land Use Law (150 pp), Real Estate, a Continuing Legal Education Program of the State Bar of South Dakota, Rapid City, September 9, 1977

• Water Right Doctrines, course on environmental law for biologists of the Division of Ecological Services, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Bloomington, MN, June 29, 1977

• Reserved Water Rights--Indian and Non-Indian, water law short course, Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, Kah-Nee-Ta Lodge, Oregon, May 16-17, 1977

• Land Use Planning Under the BLM Organic Act (P.L. 94-579)--The Private Practitioner's Viewpoint, Workshop on the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, ABA's Natural Resources Law Section, Public Lands & Land Use Committee, Denver, CO, May 5-6, 1977

• Control of Water Within Indian Country--The State Viewpoint, Indian Law Conference, Federal Bar Association, Phoenix, AZ, April 21-22, 1977

• Federal Water Resources Development: Opportunities and Responsibilities of the United States Fish & Wildlife Service, course of study on Environmental Law, for Biologists of the Division of Ecological Services, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, University of Georgia, Atlanta, April 12-15, 1977

• Land Use Management Tools, Mechanisms and Statutes--Legal Tools for Land Use Management, Fourth Annual Statewide Planning Conference, Bismarck, ND, December 2, 1976

• Government Regulation of Real Estate Development: The Effects of Water Pollution Control, ALI-ABA Course of Study on Modern Real Estate Transactions, Boulder, CO, July 11-16, 1976

• Water Law: The Prior Appropriation System, 69th Annual Meeting, American Society of Agricultural Engineers, Lincoln, NE, June 30, 1976

• South Dakota Land Use Law, series of local seminars at various locations, South Dakota State University, Cooperative Extension Service, 1975 - 1976

• The Seven Courts Case: A Case Study, Instream Flow Needs, Symposium and Specialty Conference, Western Division of the American Fisheries Society and the Power Division of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Boise, ID, 1976

• Adjudication of Water Rights - Water Court Jurisdiction and Practice (82 pp.), a chapter in Colorado Water Law Practice, the Program of Advanced Professional Development, University of Denver College of Law, 1976

• Resolution of Conflicts in Land Use Controls -- Federal, State and Local, Interdependence: The Law of the Environment, ABA National Institute, Natural Resources Law Section, Philadelphia, 1976

• Environmental Law; Air and Water Quality Regulation and Control: The Environmental Impact Statement as Basics for Administrative Review, Decisions and Evidence; Intergovernmental Jurisdiction and Coordination in Land Use and Environmental Issues; papers, Colorado State University, 1976 - 1977

• Energy Development in the West: A Clash of Federal, State and Local Land Use Planning and Control, 57th Annual Conference, American Institute of Planners, San Antonio, TX, 1975

• Constitutional Derivation and Statutory Exercise of Land Use Control Powers and Practical Aspects of Dealing with Mineral Development at the Local Level; paper, 21st Annual Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Institute, Rapid City, SD

• Coordination of Local, State and Federal Land Use Planning and Control, given at various Ecosystem Management Short courses, sponsored by the Range Science Department, College of Forestry and Natural Resources, Colorado State University, 1974 - 1977

• Legal Considerations in Obtaining Suitable Water Supplies for Oil Shale Operations in Western Colorado, Proceedings of National Symposium on Water Problems Related to Mining, American Water Resources Association, Golden, CO, 1974

• HB 1041: An Analysis from the Country's Perspective, an article appearing in the Land Use Planning Handbook, Cooperative Extension Service, Colorado State University, 1974

• Legal Aspects of On-land Disposal of Municipal Sludge (9 pp.), a paper presented at a seminar sponsored by the City of Boulder, CO, NSFRAN, and Colorado State University, Boulder, CO, (1974) and Dallas, TX (1974)

• Regional Meeting, Water As a Tool in Land Use Planning, American Society of Agricultural Engineers Regional Meeting, Rocky Mountain Chapter, Fort Collins, CO, 1974

• Program Co-Chair, CLE International Western Water Law Conference on Water Rights, Water Use & Water Quality, Denver, Colorado, March 18-19, 1999

• West Ranch Water District, Member, 1994 - Present

• Rivers, Editorial Advisory Board, 1989 - Present

• St. James Presbyterian Church, Board of Deacons, 1993 - 1996

• West Point Society of Denver

• Foothills Academy, Board Member, 1994 - 1995

• Boy Scouts of America, Denver Area Council

• S.P.A.R.E. (Suicide Prevention Allied Regional Effort), Board Member, 1987 - 1988

• Thorne Ecological Institute

• Rocky Mountain Civil War Roundtable

• American Bar Association

• Colorado Bar Association

• Colorado Water Congress

• Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation

• American Water Resources Association

• American Planning Association

• Association of Trial Lawyers of America

• Wyoming State Bar

• U.S. Committee on Irrigation and Drainage

• City of Thornton, Colorado, Special Utilities Attorney, 1988 - Present

• State of Wyoming, representation of the state in general adjudication of water rights in the Big Horn River System, including Federal and Indian reserved rights, Special Assistant Attorney General, 1976 - Present

• Special Counsel for water matters to approximately twenty municipalities and special districts, 1976 - Present

• State of South Dakota, representation of the State in general adjudication of water rights, including Indian and Federal reserved rights, Special Assistant Attorney General, 1979 - 1983

• North Dakota State Planning Division, land use legislation drafting and review, Special Counsel, 1976 - 1977

• Colorado Land Use Commission, for the development and drafting of model land use regulations for use as part of comprehensive State/local land use program, Special Counsel, 1975 - 1976

• Planning Commission, Rio Blanco County, Colorado, site of massive federal prototype oil shale leasing program, Special Counsel, 1974 - 1976

• Colorado Water Courts, Special Master, handling the adjudication of certain complex water cases, 1971 - 1976