Kevin Woldhagen – California Department of Water Resources

Second-year law student Kevin Woldhagen, who serves as secretary of PLSS, used the grant funds to support working at the California Department of Water Resources (DWR). Woldhagen believes he will continue to benefit from his involvement in PLSS in the future.

“I intend to go into public service after law school and having limited debt will make committing to important causes much easier,” he said.

In the Office of General Counsel, Woldhagen researched and drafted legal memorandums on California Water Law as it intersects with California Environmental Quality Act and Energy Law. He also prepared and presented on the topic of Environmental Justice to the entire DWR staff, summarized and reported on the Climate Change Resiliency of DWR projects, and attended court hearings on pleading and record-related motions.

Woldhagen’s favorite experience was a memo that he wrote synthesizing the circuit courts’ approaches to defining what it means "to act" under the Clean Water Acts Section 401 Waiver of Water Quality Certifications. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is currently set to decide this issue.