Tom Wilmoth of Zipline Brewing: Turning Irrigated Crops Into Beer
Zipline Brewing’s German-inspired Beer Hall in South Lincoln, Nebraska.
T
om Wilmoth is a Nebraska-based water lawyer who is also involved in putting water to its "highest and best use": turning it into beer. He is a cofounder of Zipline Brewing, which has a brewery in Lincoln, Nebraska, and four retail locations in Lincoln and Omaha. In this interview, Mr. Wilmoth tells us about Zipline and the intersections of irrigation, water law, and brewing. Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about your background.
Irrigation Leader: Where are you from originally? Tom Wilmoth: I was born and raised in Phoenix. I went to college on the East Coast and went back to the West Coast to
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Irrigation Leader: How did you end up in Nebraska? Tom Wilmoth: Fennemore Craig opened an office here. It was kind of a one-person shop, with Don Blankenau at the helm. I moved out to assist Don on some big river litigation involving the Missouri River system and the operation of federal facilities relative to endangered species needs. I think the first time I flew here to work on the project was around 2001. I ended up moving here not much later. I was taken by the place, the people, and the opportunity to work on that large project. I brought my wife, who ended up pursuing a irrigationleadermagazine.com
PHOTOS COURTESY OF ZIPLINE BREWING.
Tom Wilmoth: I started practicing law in 1997 in the environmental and natural resources field with an emphasis on water law. I’m still practicing now, but I have been transitioning into a new life, putting water to what is in my opinion its highest and best use, which is beer.
get an environmental law degree at Lewis and Clark College. I then took that down to Phoenix, where I started my first position with the Arizona Department of Water Resources. After 3 years there, I went to the U.S. Department of the Interior’s solicitor’s office in Phoenix, where I represented the Bureau of Reclamation for a couple of years. Then, I entered private practice with a firm in Phoenix by the name of Fennemore Craig.
