Experience

Kristen Castaños is a partner of the firm practicing in the Resources, Development & Environment group. Her practice emphasizes land use, the California Environmental Quality Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, water rights, water quality, the Endangered Species Act (state and federal), municipal law and takings pursuant to the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Shareholder (2004-2007) and associate (1999-2004), Somach, Simmons & Dunn, Sacramento, California; associate, Hatch and Parent, Santa Barbara, California (1998-1999); legal intern, De Cuir & Somach, Sacramento (1997, 1998); legal intern, Lang, Richert and Patch, Fresno, California (1997); law clerk, Judge Ruggero Aldisert, Third Circuit Court of Appeals, Santa Barbara (1996).

Representative Work

• Provided land use and permitting due diligence opinion for client's acquisition of major wind energy facility.
• Provide CEQA and permitting advice for development of solar, wind and geothermal energy facilities throughout California.
• City Attorney, City of Ione – provide legal advice for all City departments and operations, including revisions to Municipal Code, update to Zoning Code, General Plan update, Wastewater Treatment Plant Master Plan project, subdivisions, and development agreements.
• County of Sacramento v. State Water Resources Control Board (2007) 153 Cal.App.4th 1579 (represented County in challenge to waste discharge requirements for publicly owned treatment works).
• Morongo Band of Mission Indians v. State Water Resources Control Board (2007) 62 Cal.Rptr.3d 492 (reversed) (represented Tribe in Superior Court and appellate proceedings in challenge to water rights revocation procedures).
• California Farm Bureau Federation v. California State Water Resources Control Board (2007) 146 Cal.App.4th 1126 (review granted) (represented water right holders in challenge to newly imposed water right fees).
• California Farm Bureau Federation v. California Wildlife Conservation Board (2006) 143 Cal.App.4th 173 (represented real party in interest in successful challenge to State's improper use of CEQA exemption for habitat conservation project on Williamson Act lands).
• County of Colusa v. California Wildlife Conservation Board (2006) 145 Cal.App.4th 637 (represented County in successful recovery of attorneys fees in CEQA action).
• Successfully defended City of Sacramento and Redevelopment Agency in CEQA challenge to large-scale, mixed-use redevelopment project at former Railyards site in downtown Sacramento.
• Represent Colusa County in various State and Federal proceedings related to development of landfill on Tribal property.
• Successfully represented Colusa County in arbitration proceedings to recover fees owed to County pursuant to reimbursement agreement with developer
• Represent various municipalities in State's imposition of waste discharge requirements for publicly owned treatment works. Negotiate permit terms and enforcement actions with Regional Water Quality Control Board, and represent agencies in lawsuits challenging permit terms.
• Represent various municipalities in State's imposition of municipal stormwater permits. Negotiate permit terms and enforcement actions with Regional Water Quality Control Board, and represent agencies in lawsuits challenging permit terms.
• Represented developer of proposed mixed use development in proceedings before California Delta Protection Commission.
• Represented county in CEQA review and permitting of proposed geothermal energy facilities.
• Represented developers of two separate race track facilities regarding permitting requirements, compliance with CEQA, and defense of CEQA lawsuits.
• Defended and settled multiple Clean Water Act citizen suits.

Professional Honors & Activities

• Member, Women of Wind Energy (WoWE), San Francisco Bay Area Chapter
• Listed in Best Lawyers in America, 2009-2010
• Listed in Northern California Super Lawyers (Environmental Law), 2010
• Executive Committee, California State Bar Environmental Law Section, 2004-2010; Chair 2008-2009; Vice Chair 2007-2008; Secretary 2006-2007
• Member, Sacramento County Bar Association, Environmental Law Section, 1999-2010
• Editor, California Land Use Policy and Law Reporter, 2007-2010
• Editor, California Water Law and Policy Reporter, 2004-2007

Presentations

• "Land Use Implications Arising from Renewable Energy Projects—Water, Biomass, Geothermal," Northern California County Counsels Annual Meeting, July 2010
• "Understanding and Avoiding Potential Environment Pitfalls," Infocast Solar Power Finance & Investment Summit, March 2010
• "The California Water Deal of 2009," Stoel Rives Webinar Series, November and December 2009
• "Introduction to CEQA," 2009 Environmental Law Conference at Yosemite, Fish Camp, California, Oct. 16, 2009
• "CEQA Update: A Perennial Favorite," 2009 Environmental Law Conference at Yosemite, Fish Camp, California, Oct. 18, 2009
• "Roundtable Discussion: Advanced CEQA Litigation Tactics," 2009 Environmental Law Conference at Yosemite, Fish Camp, California, Oct. 18, 2009
• Annual Spring Roundtables, (Land Use Program cochair), State Bar of California Environmental Law Section, Jun. 12-14, 2009, Jun. 27-29, 2008, Jun. 9-11, 2006
• Sacramento County Environmental Law Section and State Bar of California Environmental Law Section Joint Luncheon, (program cochair), Sacramento, California, Jan. 29, 2009, Jan. 18, 2008, Jan. 25, 2007, Jan. 19, 2006
• "CEQA Litigation: Navigating CEQA's Unique Procedural Landscape," State Bar Section Education Institute, Berkeley, California, Jan. 16, 2009
• "CEQA Basics: For Those Who Wonder What The 'Q' Stands For," State Bar Annual Meeting, Monterey, California (Sep. 26, 2008); State Bar Section Education Institute, San Diego, California, Jan. 19, 2008
• "Beyond SWPPs and SUSMPs: The Next Phase of Stormwater Regulation in California," Environmental Law Conference at Yosemite, Fish Camp, California, Oct. 18-21, 2007
• "Development in the Delta: The Old Sugar Mill Specific Plan," California Water Law & Policy Conference, San Francisco, California, Jun. 11-12, 2007
• Practicing Environmental Law in the Central Valley, (program cochair), Modesto, California, Apr. 27-28, 2006
• "Coping with Administrative Water Fees," California Water Law & Policy SuperConference, San Francisco, California, Apr. 11-12, 2005
• "Water Quality from the Municipal Perspective," California Water Law Symposium, University of San Francisco School of Law, California, Jan. 22, 2005

Civic Activities

• Volunteer, King Hall CARES, University of California, Davis School of Law
• Coordinator, Sacramento Adoption Play Group

Publications

• "State Water Resources Control Board Initiates First Step Toward Developing Flow Criteria for the Delta Ecosystem," Stoel Rives Water Law Alert, Dec. 2009
• "The California Water Deal of 2009: An Historic Turning Point," Stoel Rives Water Law Alert, Nov. 2009
• "Ailing California Works to Solve Wind Slowdown," (co-author Allison D. Cook) North American Windpower, Oct. 2009
• "Notice of proposed CEQA regulations on Greenhouse Gas Emissions," Stoel Rives Environmental Law Alert, Aug. 2009
• "California Water Rights Fees Overturned," The Water Report, Apr. 15, 2007
• "The Case Against MTBE Continues as a California Jury Returns a Landmark Verdict Finding MTBE a Defective Product," Western Water Law & Policy Reporter, 6 West. Water L. & P'lcy R'ptr. 213, Jun. 2002

Education

• University of California, Davis, School of Law, J.D., 1998
• University of California, Davis, B.A. international relations, 1994

Admissions

• California
• U.S. District Court for the Central, Eastern, and Northern districts of California

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