William Howard Swan
William Howard Swan, 63, a beloved father, brother, friend to many, expert natural resource attorney, enthusiastic traveler, environmentalist, river runner, sailor and fisherman, passed away after a valiant fight against complications of leukemia Dec. 26, 2012, in Phoenix.
Bill was born Sept. 7, 1949, in El Centro, Calif., to Charles and Martelle Swan, the second of three brothers.
Bill and his family moved from San Diego, Calif., to Scottsdale, Ariz., in 1960, where he attended Pima Elementary and then Coronado High School. He graduated from Arizona State University and later received a Juris Doctor degree from California Western School of Law in San Diego.
Bill was a field solicitor in the Phoenix regional office of the U.S. Department of Interior, later becoming the regional solicitor and the lead negotiator for the U.S. government in the water rights quantification and settlement for a number of Native American tribes along the Salt, Verde and Gila River watersheds.
It was under his watch that the CAP was built, with Bill being instrumental in quantifying its water allotments for Arizona.
In 1996, he moved to his own private legal practice, specializing in the area of water resource law, focusing primarily on issues related to the seven Colorado River Basin states.
In the last decade, he represented the Imperial Irrigation District through the law firm of Horton, Knox, Carter, and Foote LLP of El Centro. In Arizona, he also provided some legal counsel in Indian law and water rights for the Hopi Tribe. Given his expertise in these areas of law, he often wrote and was invited to lecture on such topics.
Bill is survived by his children, Ryan and Karyn, his former wife, Adele, his brothers Bob (Dixie) and Jim Swan, and a nephew, nieces and cousins. A celebration of Bill’s life will be held at Paradise Valley United Methodist Church, 4455 E. Lincoln Drive, at 2 p.m., Jan. 11, 2013. In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate notes of remembrance and, if you wish, donations in his name to the Nature Conservancy or The Heifer Project.