Anna Franz: Bringing Specialized Water and Municipal Law Expertise to Irrigation District Clients
Anna Franz at her family’s farm, with a view of land served by the 47.5 pumping plant.
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nna Franz is a Moses Lake–based attorney with long experience in water law and municipal law, including significant work with irrigation district clients, including the East Columbia Basin Irrigation District (ECBID). In this interview, she tells us about the distinctive legal challenges of irrigation districts and municipalities, how she and her colleagues help them, and the trends she sees affecting them in the future. Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about your background and how you came to be in your current position.
Irrigation Leader: What inspired you to study law? Anna Franz: My grandfather was an architect in Seattle, and his friends were attorneys and judges, so it was always
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Irrigation Leader: Would you tell us about your relationship with Mr. Lemargie and what you learned from him? Anna Franz: At law school, I learned a lot of theory, but not a lot of practical application. He was my main mentor in learning the practice of law. A lot of the core practices and tips I use in my career are tools I learned from him. Irrigation Leader: How does working with irrigation districts fit into your broader practice? Anna Franz: My firm focuses on municipal law as it relates to cities and small special purpose districts, such as the ECBID. Over the years, I’ve focused more on the irrigation side of the practice. It includes working with elected officials, developing programs, and making sure practices and policies are compliant with state and federal law. irrigationleadermagazine.com
PHOTO COURTESY OF PETER FRANZ.
Anna Franz: I grew up on a farm in the Odessa subarea of the ECBID. Our family has been farming there since 1902. I went to the University of Washington for undergrad and law school and then came back to eastern Washington, where I was introduced to Richard Lemargie, with whom I worked for quite a few years. He represented the three irrigation districts of the Columbia Basin Project (CBP).
a career path on my horizon. Seeing the challenges and environmental issues facing our agricultural community made me see the need for an advocate who understood that community. I never envisioned myself doing what I’m doing now, but the fun thing about law is that it opens a lot of opportunities we’re not always aware of.
