Arthur L. Littleworth

Partner

Arthur L. Littleworth is one of the preeminent water law attorneys in the United States and senior partner at the law firm of Best Best & Krieger LLP.  In his forty years of legal practice, he has participated in all aspects of water law, including transactional and litigation matters.  In 2003 he was named as one of the “Top 100” lawyers in California.

Mr. Littleworth represented the State Water Contractors and their 20 million users who receive water from the State Water Project in the Bay-Delta hearings before the State Water Resources Control Board, and in related litigation and extensive statewide settlement negotiations.  He was also involved in the Mono Lake litigation, representing local water users in that controversy.  He represented the East Bay Municipal Utility District in a major lawsuit challenging the District’s contract with the Bureau of Reclamation to take water from the American River, and more recently in environmental litigation challenging that several hundred million dollar project.

Mr. Littleworth has had extensive water rights adjudication experience.  He represented Rancho California Water District in negotiations with the U.S. Justice Department concerning the water rights of the Marine Corps and Camp Pendleton, and currently represents the Lake Hemet Municipal Water District in negotiations concerning the water rights of the Soboba Band of Mission Indians on the San Jacinto River.  He has been involved in a general adjudication of the Mojave River system.  He also acted as lead counsel for Riverside County defendants in an action involving more than 1,000 parties brought by the downstream Orange County Water District to adjudicate all water rights within the Santa Ana River watershed.  He is counsel for the Desert Water Agency, and negotiated groundwater storage agreements with The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California for the underground storage of Colorado River water in the Coachella Valley.

Mr. Littleworth has had wide experience in the planning and use of groundwater resources and in the marketing of water rights, representing a number of water districts and property owners.  He represented Special Counsel to The Irvine Company with respect to future water supplies, water quality and water related environmental matters.

He is co-author of the book California Water, published in 1995 by Solano Press, widely viewed as the definitive book on this subject.  The book was updated in 2008.

In 1987, he was appointed by the United States Supreme Court as Special Master to hear a case of original jurisdiction between the States of Kansas and Colorado involving the Arkansas River.  The trial was tried in segments, and was completed in March 2009. 

Mr. Littleworth graduated, with honors, from Yale University in 1944, holds an M.A. from Stanford University and received his L.L.B. from Yale Law School in 1950.  He was admitted to practice in California in 1951.  Mr. Littleworth is AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell and is listed in the Best Lawyers in America®.

Education

• Yale University, L.L.B. (1950)
• Stanford University, M.A.
• Yale University, B.A., with honors

Bar Admissions

• California (1951)

Awards

• Best Lawyers in America, Energy, Environmental, Natural Resources & Water Law (1995-2017)
• “Top 100” lawyers in California. (2003)
• AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell

Authorships

• California Water, Solano Press (1995 )