Basin Strategies Group
Basin Strategies Group is a solutions-oriented consulting and public affairs firm. We help clients address complex natural-resource and water permitting and policy challenges through technical assistance, strategic policy development, and collaborative decision-making.
We work with clients to develop practical regulatory strategies, advance effective law and policy reforms, and build the relationships needed to achieve durable outcomes.
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Water Rights and Resource Strategy
We provide practical, technically informed assistance to help clients navigate water-rights permitting, adjudication, and water-management challenges. We also integrate water-rights strategy into broader natural-resource, land-management, and operational planning. Our services include:
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Water-rights research and due diligence
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Water-rights inventories, investigations, and portfolio assessments
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Water-rights management and operational planning
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Assistance with water-right permitting, transfers, and change-of-use authorizations
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Adjudication support
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Water-system assessments to inform operational and water-use planning
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Support for water-right acquisitions, leasing, and related transactions
02
Policy Solutions
Our direct work with clients gives us firsthand insight into the policy barriers land managers and water users face. Drawing on more than four decades of combined experience in water-resource management, administration, and policy, we translate on-the-ground experience into effective advocacy and practical policy solutions.
We help clients assess policy issues, build coalitions, engage decision-makers, and advance water-law and natural-resource reforms that support proactive, durable resource management.
03
Collaboration and Facilitation
Durable policy and management solutions require meaningful participation by affected interests. We design and facilitate difficult conversations, help parties identify shared objectives, and build diverse coalitions capable of advancing practical, long-term solutions.
04
Government Affairs
We represent clients in state legislative, administrative, and appropriations processes involving water and natural-resource policy. Our work includes relationship-building with elected officials and agency leaders, policy analysis, strategic advocacy, and coalition development. Across multiple legislative sessions, our team has helped advance meaningful policy and appropriations reforms.
Anna Pakenham Stevenson
Anna has worked in western water and natural resource policy for more than twenty years, primarily leading collaborative efforts that advance conservation, agricultural, municipal, and Tribal interests in state government. In that capacity she has worked directly on issues related to statewide water strategy, water rights administration, water policy reform, reservoir and canal funding, drought resilience, and fish and wildlife–related resource management. She holds a B.S. in Biology and Environmental Science and a M.S. and Ph.D. in Resource Management and Water Policy.
Clayton R. Elliott
Clayton has worked in Montana water and natural resource law and policy for more than fifteen years, primarily representing conservation and agricultural interests in state and federal government. In that capacity he has worked directly on issues related to water rights permitting, water resources, statewide adjudication of water rights, fish and wildlife policy, and stream restoration. He holds a M.S. in Natural Resource Policy and Administration from the University of Michigan and undergraduate degrees in Economics and Environment and Natural Resources from the University of Wyoming.
OUR TEAM
Basin Strategies Group helps bridge diverse interests to address complex water and natural-resource challenges. Through technical expertise, strategic public affairs, and collaborative decision-making, we help clients pursue regulatory outcomes, develop effective policy, and build partnerships that balance environmental stewardship, economic opportunity, and the long-term public good.
We measure our work by the effectiveness and durability of the outcomes we help achieve.
OUR PHILOSOPHY
Basin Strategies Group envisions a West in which complex water and natural-resource challenges are addressed through collaborative leadership, sound science, innovative public policy, and meaningful engagement among diverse interests.
We believe that people who use, manage, develop, and conserve natural resources should have a meaningful role in decisions affecting their communities, watersheds, and economies.
These challenges include growing water demands, economic and demographic change, prolonged drought, changing water supplies, and the need to sustain resilient natural and working landscapes.
Drawing on more than four decades of combined experience, we support solutions-oriented leadership, foster collaboration across diverse interests, and advance durable policy and management outcomes for water users, land managers, communities, and natural resources.
