Eric L. Garner

Partner

Los Angeles
300 South Grand Avenue
25th Floor
(213) 787-2561

Riverside
3390 University Avenue
5th Floor
(213) 787-2561

Managing Partner Eric Garner has practiced water law for nearly 30 years at Best Best & Krieger LLP. For the past two decades, he has worked extensively on groundwater matters. He was involved in the Mojave Groundwater adjudication and represented the lead parties in the Santa Maria and Antelope Valley groundwater adjudications. He advised clients throughout California on groundwater issues and was involved in the drafting of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. He also worked on surface water issues throughout the state and drafted water laws in South Africa, Trinidad and Pakistan. He worked with the United Nations Environmental Programme on incorporating environmental issues into water laws and was the first American Chair of the International Bar Association’s Water Law Committee.

Eric co-authored “California Water” and “California Water II,” and is an adjunct law professor at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law. He was also named a California Lawyer of the Year by California Magazine, one of the Top 100 Lawyers in California by the Daily Journal and the Water Law Lawyer of the Year in Los Angeles by Best Lawyers. He is licensed to practice law in the State of California.

Education

• University of Michigan, J.D.
• Earlham College, B.A.

Awards

• Southern California Super Lawyers®, Environmental Law, 2012-2016
• Los Angeles Business Journal Law Leader of the Year Finalist, 2016
• Super Lawyers Business Edition, Construction, Real Estate and Environmental, 2015
• The Best Lawyers in America®, Environmental Litigation and Water Law, 2012-2017
• Water Law Lawyer of the Year in Los Angeles, Best Lawyers®, 2015
• Top 100 Lawyers in California, The Daily Journal, 2009, 2015
• Top 20 Municipal Lawyers, The Daily Journal, 2013
• California Lawyer of the Year, California Lawyer magazine, 2006

Eric L. Garner

Partner

• “Adapting Water Laws to Increasing Demand and a Changing Climate,” Water International 2016 (Special Issue)
• “Now is the Time to Fix Groundwater Issues,” Daily Journal, June 10, 2014
• “A Role for Reasonableness and Physical Solution in Water Law in an Era of Climate Change,” Bloomberg BNA Water Law & Policy Monitor, March 12, 2014
• “California’s New Basic Human Right to Water Will Frame Future Policy Debates,” Bloomberg BNA Water Law & Policy Monitor, March 28, 2013
• “Why Californians Should Care About Water Rights,” PublicCEO.com, June 2012
• “Harnessing The Sun’s Power Can Negatively Impact Another Natural Resource,” North American Clean Energy Magazine, December 2010
• “Navigating the Desert Terrain and Legal Landscape,” Solar Industry, July 2010
• “California Water II,” Solano Press, co-author, 2007 edition
• “California Water,” Solano Press, co-author

Eric L. Garner

Partner

Presentations

• “All Hands on Deck! Collaborative Approaches to Water Sustainability and Resiliency,” Coro 2016 Innovate x Water Conference, Nov. 15, 2016
• “Reimagining the Cadillac Desert,” Sept. 15, 2016
• “Managing Groundwater in a Time of Increasing Demand and Changing Climate,” Toward Sustainable Groundwater in Agriculture: 2nd International Conference Linking Science & Policy, June 30, 2016
• “Understanding Local Groundwater Storage Potential,” LA’s Water Resource Future Workshops, June 15, 2016
• “Constraints and Successes for Groundwater Governance and Enforcement in California,” World Bank Water Global Practice: Groundwater Law and Challenges in Enforcement: Experiences from California and Development Perspectives, June 2, 2016
• “Groundwater: Legislation in California and Elsewhere; Overdraft; State and Local Management; Legal Treatment of Connection to Surface Water,” National Water Law Forum, May 12, 2016
• “SGMA and the Changing Course of California Groundwater Management,” American Groundwater Trust, April 26, 2016
• “Groundwater Regulation in California,” Law Seminars International, Oct. 29, 2015
• “The Next Wave Series: Who Owns Water?,” UCLA Hammer Museum Lecture Series, Oct. 29, 2015
• “Drought in California - Disaster and Opportunity,” 2015 Dr. Bruce J. Nelson ’74 Distinguished Speaker Series - Water, Oct. 22, 2015
• “Sustainable Groundwater Management Act: One Year Later,” ACWA's 2015 Regulatory Summit, Oct. 14, 2015
• “The Science and Law of Water in California,” Law Seminars International, Sept. 17, 2015
• “2015 Summer Conference,” Appraisal Institute, July 14, 2015
• “The Administrative & Public Environmental Law Conference,” The State Bar of California Public and Environmental Law Sections, June 12, 2015
• “Adapting Water Laws to Increasing Demand and a Changing Climate,” IWRA’s World Water Congress XV, Edinburgh, Scotland May 26, 2015
• “California’s Water: Drought, Finding Water, The Water Bond and Interpreting New Groundwater Regulation,” The Seminar Group, May 15, 2015
• “Global Perspective on Water and Society,” Water Technology Hub, May 14, 2015
• “Sustainable Groundwater Management: What the Hell Just Happened?” California Water Policy Conference, March 19, 2015
• “To Adjudicate or not to Adjudicate? That is the Question!” ACWA Legislative Symposium, March 4, 2015
• “Groundwater Regulation and Management in California,” Law Seminars International, March 2, 2015
• “Groundwater Legislation: History in the Making or Another Dead End?” ACWA Fall Conference, Dec. 2, 2014
• “Moment of Truth: One State, One Water Future,” ACWA Fall Conference, Dec. 2, 2014
• “Adapting Water Laws to a World of Water Scarcity,” United Nations Environment for Development, Nov. 26, 2014
• “Dealing in Drought: Development, Legislation and Litigation,” The Seminar Group, Oct. 30, 2014
• “The Business of Water: Key Issues in Investing In and Financing of Water and Wastewater Projects,” International Bar Association, Oct. 20, 2014
• “Hydrology and the Law,” Law Seminars International, Oct. 7, 2014
• “A Summary of California Water Rights Systems and a Primer for Public Water Agency Directors,” Water 101 Workshop, Water Education Foundation, Oct. 2, 2014
• “Lessons from the Santa Maria Groundwater Adjudication,” ACWA 2013 Spring Conference & Exhibition Rethinking California Water, May 9, 2013
• “An Overview of California’s Water Law and Trends in Water Pricing,” Investing in California’s Water, The Seminar Group, Feb. 5, 2013

News

• “BB&K’s Reimagining the Cadillac Desert,” Maven’s Notebook, Oct. 27, 2016
• “Eric Garner an L.A. Business Journal Leaders in Law Finalist,” BB&K Press Release, Oct. 17, 2016
• “In Focus: Eric Garner,” The Network Note, Sept. 2, 2016
• “20 BB&K Attorneys Make Best Lawyers in America 2017 List,” BB&K Press Release, Aug. 15, 2016
• “How Israel Manages its Water Better than California Does,” Jewish Journal, Aug. 15, 2016
• “Water Futures,” Best Lawyers, July 25, 2016
• “California Groundwater Regulation Hangs on a Few Words,” Circle of Blue, May 5, 2016
• “2016 Southern California Super Lawyers Magazine Recognizes Six BB&K Partners,” BB&K Press Release, Jan. 22, 2016
• “Eric Garner Named One of the Top 100 Lawyers in California,” BB&K Press Release, Sept. 9, 2015
• “Water Law, Conservation and Drought,” KCAA: Water Zone, Aug. 28, 2015
• “19 BB&K Attorneys Included on the 2016 Best Lawyers in America List,” BB&K Press Release, Aug. 17, 2015
• “The Flood of Water Rights Lawsuits Begins,” KCRW: Which Way, L.A.? July 2, 2015
• “Lawsuits Over California Water Rights are a Fight a Century in the Making,” Los Angeles Times, June 29, 2015
• “5 Ways California Water Restrictions are Affecting Real Estate,” Law360, May 12, 2015
• “Drought Puts State’s Byzantine Water Rights System into Stark Relief,” Daily Journal, April 22, 2015
• “DIVISIONS GO DEEP: Tribe Fights To Control Flush Aquifer That Water Agencies Deny Depleting And Fouling,” Los Angeles Times, March 31, 2015
• “Drought Spurs New Court Rulings, Legislation Governing State Water Rights,” Daily Journal, Dec. 30, 2014
• “California’s New Groundwater Law Seeks to Guide Planning Without Adjudication,” Bloomberg BNA, Dec. 11, 2014
• “In Response to Drought, California Takes Historic Step to Regulate Groundwater,” Daily Journal, Sept. 22, 2014
• “Water Shortage Threatens Global Security,” IBA Global Insight, Aug. 3, 2014
• “California Powerhouse: Best Best & Krieger,” Law360, July 7, 2014
• “U.S. Supreme Court Denies Review of Challenge to Santa Maria Groundwater Plan,” BB&K Press Release, Oct. 14, 2013

Memberships

• Palm Springs International Film Festival, member of the board of directors (2010 - current)
• International Bar Association, Section on Energy, Environment, Natural Resources and Infrastructure Law, Council Member (2011-2012)
• International Bar Association, Water Law Committee Chair (2009-2010)

Community Involvement

• University of Southern California Law School (adjunct professor of water law)
• UCLA and UC Riverside extension programs (taught water law)