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Scenic Cathedral Rock formation and Oak Creek in Sedona Arizona

Adjudications

About Adjudications

What are the General Stream Adjudications

In Arizona, general adjudications are conducted under the authority and procedures of Arizona Revised Statutes (A.R.S.) §§ 45-251 through 45-260. Under A.R.S. § 45-251(1), a general adjudication means “an action for the judicial determination or establishment of the extent and priority of the rights of all persons to use water in any river system and source.”

Arizona's adjudication proceedings are organized into two geographic areas: the Gila River Basin and the Little Colorado River Basin. The Maricopa County Superior Court manages proceedings for the Gila River Basin, while the Apache County Superior Court manages proceedings for the Little Colorado River Basin.

The key participants in the adjudication include thousands of surface water rights claimants, the Arizona Department of Water Resources, which evaluates the validity of water rights claims, and the Arizona Superior Court, which establishes the adjudication rules, hears all objections, and decrees water rights at the end of the process. Claimants include the State of Arizona, the United States, Indian Tribes and Tribal Nations, cities, towns, water providers, and water users.

About the Adjudication Division

The Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) was created in 1980 with the passage of the Groundwater Management Act and is the administrator of one of the state’s most valuable resources—water. ADWR’s statutory obligations are outlined in Arizona Revised Statutes, Title 45—Waters. ADWR is responsible for seeing that this resource, both groundwater and surface water, is used wisely, safely, and within the confines of the law.

The Adjudications Division, within ADWR, is the court’s technical advisor. The Division investigates all claims, prepares technical reports, maintains a central information repository, and conducts summons service. The Division’s Hydrographic Survey Reports (HSRs) contain findings and recommendations to the court regarding water rights claims. The Special Master organizes the objections and issues of broad legal significance into contested cases. After hearing the evidence and reviewing the HSR, they submit the report with their findings to the Court, recommending a final decree for the Court to rule on. 

What does the Adjudication process look like?

The statutes set out the process that must be followed in an adjudication. A brief outline follows:

  1. Petitions: An adjudication begins when a water user or a state agency (other than ADWR) petitions the Superior Court to adjudicate all water rights within a particular watershed.
  2.  Notice of Summons: After the petitions are filed with the Court, a summons is sent by certified mail to all property owners, known right holders, and claimants within the adjudicated area.
  3. Filing of Claims: Those who claim a water use do so by filing a Statement of Claimant (SOC).
  4. Hydrographic Survey Report (HSR): At the direction of the Court, ADWR prepares a preliminary and a final HSR for each watershed. The HSR is an assessment and inventory of current water uses and claims within the watershed. These reports do not decide claimants' water rights but provide information and recommendations to the Court.
  5. Comments, Objections, and Hearings: After the preliminary HSR is published, a 90-day comment period allows claimants to respond to ADWR’s findings. After the final HSR is issued, a 180-day objection period begins when the claimants can contest ADWR’s assessment of their claim(s) or of other water users’ claim(s) by filing a written objection with the Court. After the close of the objection period, hearings are held where claimants can submit evidence supporting their claim(s). These hearings will be held by a Special Master, an attorney appointed by the Arizona Supreme Court to make recommendations to the judge.
  6. Final Decree: After the Special Master files a report with the Superior Court and the necessary hearings have been held, the Court will determine all surface water rights within the watershed. In this final decree, the Court will assign each claimant who is determined to have a valid water right a water use amount and the priority date of that right.  

If you claim a water right that may be subject to the adjudications, you should follow these proceedings carefully to protect your claimed water rights. You should thoroughly review all reports which pertain to your claims and water use.