Gabe Racz

Professional Experience

Partner, Vranesh and Raisch LLP, Boulder, Colorado
January 2013 to Present

Attorney, Vranesh and Raisch LLP, Boulder, Colorado
October 2011 to December 2012

Attorney, Trout, Raley, Montaño, Witwer & Freeman, P.C., Denver, Colorado
June 2001 to September 2011

Law Clerk for Judge Lawrence A. Manzanares, 2nd Judicial District, Denver, Colorado
June 2000 to May 2001

Mr. Racz’s main areas of practice include water quality, water rights and environmental matters, including:

• Hearings before the Colorado Water Quality Control Commission regarding water quality standards, rulemakings, and policies.
• Discharge permitting matters, including adjudicatory hearings and judicial appeals.
• Water rights adjudication, including surface and groundwater rights, nontributary groundwater, changes of water rights, and plans for augmentation.
• Evaluation, including title examination, of water rights purchase and sale transactions.
• Water storage and pipeline project environmental permitting, including Section 404 dredge and fill permitting, Endangered Species Act, and National Environmental Policy Act matters.

Education

Juris Doctor, summa cum laude, 2000
University of Illinois College of Law, Champaign, Illinois

Bachelor of Music, cum laude, 1994
Ithaca College, Ithaca, New York

Professional Affiliations

Colorado Bar Association, Environmental Law Section and Water Law Section

Boulder County Bar Association, Natural Resources/Environmental Law Section

Chair, Colorado Water Congress Water Quality Committee

Board Member, Colorado Water Congress

Chair, Colorado Chamber of Commerce, Energy & Environment Council Water Quality Committee

Colorado Mining Association

National Association of Clean Water Agencies

Bar Admission

Mr. Racz is admitted to practice in the State of Colorado, the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, and the U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Recognition

Best Lawyers (2023-2025)
Denver’s Top Lawyers (2022-2023)

Selected Publications and Presentations

• Presenter, "Discharges Into Surface Water: Produced Water, Oil and Gas Waste, and More," 22nd Annual Law of the Rio Grande, April 2024.
• Presenter, "Water Quality 101," Colorado Bar Association Environmental Law Section, September, 2023.
• Presenter, "The Epic of WOTUS," Colorado Water Congress Summer Conference Workshop, August 2023.
• Presenter, "The Epic of WOTUS," MINEXCHANGE: Colorado Mining Association 125th National Western Mining Conference and SME 2023 Annual Conference & Expo, March 2023.
• Presenter, Murky Waters: Dredge and Fill Permitting & the Definition of Waters of the U.S., Colorado Environmental Management Society Fall Conference, September 2021.
• Co-Presenter, Everything You Need to Know Now About WOTUS and PFAS, Colorado Water Congress Summer Conference, August 2021.
• Presenter, "New EPA Water Quality Rules and Enforcement Actions" Continuing Legal Education, Held March 2017.
• Presenter, "Colorado Temperature Standards, or, Misadventures in Haberdashery," Colorado Water Congress Summer Conference, Aug 2016.
• Presenter, "Water Quality 101," Colorado Water Law 14th Annual Conference, May 2016.
• Presenter, "The Colorado Water Plan and Water Quality," Boulder County Bar Association (March 2016).
• Presenter, "Trends in Water Quality Regulation," Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration Annual Conference & Expo (Feb. 2014).
• Co-author, "Control of Nutrients in Colorado Surface Waters: Current Status", The Colorado Lawyer Vol. 42, No. 7 (July 2013) (with Amy Woodis).
• Co-presenter "Colorado Nutrient Regulations: The End of the Beginning," SDA Annual Conference, September 2012.
• "Author, "Nutrient Regulations Will Challenge the State, Municipalities, Industry, and Agriculture." Boulder County Bar Newsletter, May 2012.
• Co-author, "Acquiring, Using, and Protecting Water in Colorado" (1st ed., 2004 and revised ed., 2011).
• "Keeping Your Cool With Revised Temperature Standards," South Platte Forum, Oct. 2007.

Justine Beckstrom and Gabe Racz of Vranesh and Raisch, LLP receive awards from the Colorado Mining Association, Outstanding Service to the Mining Industry (2024)

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