Adjudications Overview
GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF ADJUDICATIONS PROGRAM
The general stream adjudication is a judicial proceeding to determine the nature, extent and relative priority of water rights in Arizona. See Arizona Revised Statutes (A.R.S.) §§ 45-251 to 45-264. There are two general stream adjudications in the state, the Gila River System and Source (Gila Adjudication) and the Little Colorado River System and Source (LCR Adjudication). The exterior boundaries of these two adjudications include more than half the state, where most of the Indian reservations and federal land are located. Click here to see a Map of Adjudicated Areas in Arizona.
Thousands of claimants and water users are joined in these proceedings that will result in the Superior Court issuing a comprehensive final decree of water rights for both river systems. There are over 39,000 parties in the Gila Adjudication and over 6,000 parties in the LCR Adjudication. A party is a person or entity that has filed one or more claims to water rights in the adjudication (Statement of Claimant or SOC). On behalf of federal non-Indian lands alone, the United States has filed over 15,000 claims.
As required by statute, ADWR provides technical and administrative support to the adjudication court and Special Master, “...in all aspects of the general adjudication with respect to which the director possesses hydrological or other expertise.” A.R.S. § 45-256(A). The Adjudications Program is tasked with providing technical support for the adjudication through the investigations of claims for water rights and preparation of technical reports. ADWR’s Legal Division represents the Department before the adjudication court and the Special Master, assists with the preparation of technical reports and provides information as requested.
Click Gila River and Little Colorado River General Stream Adjudications for more information.
Central information repository
ADWR maintains a Central Information Repository for data, reports and other information related to the adjudications, which contains thousands of documents. This information is available to the public and to the parties.
Recent Activity
Catalog of Proposed Water Rights
CV 6417 In Re The Little Colorado River Adjudication
CV 6417-201 In Re Hopi Tribe Priority
W1-103 In re San Pedro Subflow Technical Report
W1-11-1912 In Re Chester L. Brown
W1-11-2665 In Re Redfield Canyon State Claims
W1-11-2690 In Re Pima County Flood Control District
W1-11-3300 In Re Arizona Chapter of the Nature Conservancy- Aravaipa Creek De Minimis
W1-11-3301 In Re The Nature Conservancy- Instream Flow
W1-11-3310 In Re Larsen
W1-11-3311 In Re Luebbermann
W1-11-3313 In Re Barassi
W1-11-3315 In Re Young
W1-11-3317 In re Lester Young
W1-11-3318 In Re Bowers
W1-11-3326 In Re Lackner
W1-11-3329 In Re BLM- Nature Conservancy Leased Land
W1-11-3377 In Re The Nature Conservancy- Salazar Tapia Ditch (Consolidated)
Disclosure documents
Statement of Claimant and New Use Summons Information
Adjudication summons were served upon all persons listed in the property tax assessments in each watershed and on all persons in the watershed who had, at any time, any kind of water rights filing on record with ADWR. 100,000 SOCs have been filed in the adjudications in response to the original and new use summons. Through the end of calendar year 2018, over 85,000 SOCs have been filed in the Gila Adjudication, and over 14,000 SOCs have been filed in the LCR Adjudication.
Additionally, ADWR conducts an annual search of its records to determine whether new water uses have been initiated within the adjudication areas and serves new use summons by certified mail to those potential claimants.
Technical reports
ADWR prepares and publishes technical reports on specific issues or factual matters within the adjudications, such as Indian water rights settlements, Hydrographic Survey Reports, de minimis water uses, the determination of subflow, comments on procedural issues, and status reports.
Hydrographic Survey Reports (HSRs)
By statute, ADWR is required to prepare and publish comprehensive Hydrographic Survey Reports (HSRs) for each of the ten watersheds within the two adjudications. HSRs can be multi-volume publications that involve intensive data collection and field inspection efforts by ADWR, including detailed information regarding land ownership, hydrology, and the factual basis for each SOC, and ADWR’s recommendations regarding the water rights attributes for each individual water right claim or use investigated.
For each HSR, ADWR prepares a preliminary and a final draft. ADWR must provide notice of the filing of the preliminary HSR to each party and water user within the affected watershed, and notice of the final HSR to each party throughout the affected adjudication area. ADWR also prepares and publishes supplements to final HSRs as necessary to update information, and provides additional notice to the parties.
Indian Water Rights Settlements
Other Reports (Subflow, De Minimis, etc)