Stoel Rives Attorney Cherise Gaffney Honored With Women With Hydro Vision Award

Seattle, WA — Stoel Rives LLP is pleased to announce that partner Cherise M. Gaffney has been selected as a 2015 recipient of the Women with Hydro Vision award. The award is given annually by PennWell’s Hydro Group to women considered the most influential in the hydropower industry. Ten awards were made by category, with Gaffney receiving recognition in Marine and Hydrokinetic Energy. The awards were given at the Women with Hydro Vision Luncheon on July 14, 2015, at the HydroVision International Conference in Portland, Oregon.

Gaffney advises developers and owners of hydropower dams and marine hydrokinetic facilities on complicated licensing and environmental permitting issues arising under the Federal Power Act, Endangered Species Act, National Environmental Policy Act and other federal statutes. She has served as vice president (2012-13) and as a board member (2010-14) of the National Hydropower Association (NHA) and at various times has chaired its legislative affairs, regulatory affairs and new technologies committees.  In those roles, Gaffney took an active role in NHA's development and successful passage of hydropower legislation.  She also served as a panel member for the Department of Energy's water power program reviews in 2009 and 2011.  Gaffney formerly worked as counsel to the National Marine Fisheries Service on endangered salmon and hydropower issues in California, where she participated in the 1998-99 interagency task force effort to improve hydroelectric relicensing. Gaffney is ranked as one of "America's Leading Lawyers for Business" by Chambers USA in environmental law, and is listed in Best Lawyers in America for energy regulatory law and environmental law.