Sara M. Dunn

Sara is a partner at Balcomb & Green. She has extensive water law experience and can assist with the development and appropriation of new water rights; leasing, buying and selling of water rights; easement issues; and the management, protection and maximization of water resources.

She also advises clients regarding water issues that arise in the course of real estate transactions and land use applications. Outside of the area of water law, Sara advises agricultural producers, commercial investors, financial institutions, special districts, individual businesses, homeowners associations, and landowners in a variety of matters.

Sara earned her undergraduate degree from Colorado State University and her law degree from the University of Colorado Law School in 1998. She began her legal career as a law clerk for the Honorable Jonathan W. Hays in the 19th Judicial District. She also served as a part-time Water Referee in Water Division 1. Her passion for water rights developed while working with Judge Hays on complex water issues. Before joining Balcomb & Green, Sara developed a specialized water practice that includes a diverse client base throughout Colorado.

Sara is a Colorado native. She was born in Alamosa and was raised in southeastern Colorado working on her family’s wheat farm. Sara moved to the Roaring Fork Valley in 2000.

Managing Editor, Colorado Journal of International Law and Policy, 1997-1998. Law Clerk, Hon. Jonathan W. Hays, Water Court Division No.1, 1998-2000. Assistant Water Referee, Water Court Division No. 1, 1999. Co-Author: with Chad Lee, "Preserving Historical Consumptive Use During Water Leases for Instream Use," The Colorado Lawyer (June 2011), Vol. 40, No. 6, at 49. Author: "Surfing the Water on the Web," Western Water Law, Vol. 6 No. 3 (2002); "From Flav'r Sav'r to Environmental Saver? Biotechnology and the Future of Agriculture, International Trade and the Environment," 9 Colo. J. Int'l Envtl. Law and Pol'y 145 (1998).