Nicole Granquist has joined Stoel Rives LLP. She joins Stoel's Environmental practice and is based in the firm's Sacramento, Calif. office. Former chair of Downey Brand’s Natural Resources Department, Nicole Granquist has been a fixture in California’s legal and environmental regulatory communities for more than a quarter-century. Her work centers on water quality regulatory compliance, enforcement defense, and litigation. Granquist provides counsel and defense on complex regulatory matters requiring a thorough understanding of the federal Clean Water Act and the California Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act. She is frequently called upon by small and national private and public entities to serve as defense counsel in third-party citizen suits brought in federal court involving various municipal wastewater, industrial and manufacturing process water, and construction, municipal, and industrial stormwater discharge matters. Granquist also negotiates National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits, Waste Discharge Requirements (WDRs), and water reclamation requirements with the California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) and Regional Water Boards for water-related and reclamation projects. She has played a key role in influencing statewide policies regarding the development of Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs), Basin Planning, and the SWRCB’s compliance schedule policy. Granquist received her J.D. from the University of Oregon School of Law, where she earned a specialized certificate in environmental law.