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Contested case W1-11-1511 concerns multiple claims for stockponds registered, but not yet certificated under the Stockpond Registration Act. In other cases, the Adjudication Court has approved nearly 175 abstracts for uncertificated, but registered stockponds.
To determine which documents may serve as bases of right for stockponds under the Stockpond Registration Act, the Special Master declared an issue of broad legal importance (“IBLI”). On March 28, 2025, the Special Master instructed interested parties in the Little Colorado River and Gila River Adjudications to notify the Court of their participation in the resolution of the issue by May 30, 2025. Responses to the IBLI were due on June 30, 2025, and replies are due July 31, 2025. On May 19, 2025, the Special Master clarified the scope of the IBLI.
On May 24, 2023, Arizona Department of Water Resources ("ADWR") filed a technical report proposing a revised map of Hydrographic Survey Report (“HSR”) investigation areas and a schedule for the completion of HSRs and technical reports. The new map is based on the United States Geological Survey's Hydrologic Unit Code ("HUC") system.
On March 25, 2024, the Special Master issued a report proposing further revisions to the HSR boundary map and a sequence for issuance of future HSRs in both the Gila River and Little Colorado River Basins. Objections to the Special Master’s March 25, 2024, Report were received by September 23, 2024. The Honorable Judge Scott Blaney approved most of the Special Master’s recommendations, but modified the map for the Special Master’s proposed “Salt River Valley HSR” and clarified that the Verde Canyon Watershed and Lower Verde Valley Watershed HSRs will not be completed simultaneously.
On March 13, 2025, pursuant to Judge Blaney’s order, ADWR filed an “adjudication map” depicting the approved Salt River Valley HSR area. The current adjudication map, historical adjudication map, and hydrological reference map can all be found here.
The Special Master is resolving claims concerning properties served by the St. David Irrigation District in groups of contested cases. Concurrently with the initial group of St. David cases, the Special Master is resolving claims in In re Norman G. and Barbara Y. Crawford (W1-11-2708) and In re Hope Iselin Jones (W1-11-2697). In February 2025, the litigants in these cases filed more than ten motions for summary judgment. To determine the merits of these motions, the Special Master held oral argument on April 17, 2025. On May 13, 2025, the Special Master ruled on the motions for summary judgment. In this ruling, the Special Master:
- Preserved for trial all irrigation claims in W1-11-2697 and W1-11-2708.
- Dismissed all but two irrigation claims in the St. David Initial Designation Cases.
- Held that summary adjudication procedures apply to de minimis domestic and stockwatering claims in the Initial Designation Cases, W1-11-2697, and W1-11-2708.
- Held that a “preponderance of the evidence” standard applies to forfeiture.
- Clarified the breadth of stipulations regarding the calculation of irrigation water duties.
On June 20, 2025, litigants settled all claims and objections in W1-11-2697 and W1-11-2708. Further, all litigants agreed to postpone a trial for the remaining irrigation claims in the Initial Designation Cases until January 2026. Negotiations to settle all remaining claims in the 180 contested cases associated with the St. David Irrigation District are ongoing.
In re Subflow Technical Report, W1-103On February 20, 2024, ADWR filed a model and accompanying report intended to underlie the cone of depression and subflow depletion tests for the San Pedro Watershed. In response to objections filed to ADWR’s technical report, the Special Master issued an order instructing ADWR to file an addendum that clarifies various aspects of the report. The addendum, filed on February 7, 2025, provides clarification regarding the basis for certain parameters and assumptions in its model, the geographical orientation of the model, and the rigor of the model’s calibration. Ultimately, the addendum proposes a March 2029 update to the February 2024 Groundwater Flow Model that incorporates recommendations by the parties.
To streamline the objection process for the future updated model and expedite the updates themselves, the Special Master has instructed the parties and ADWR to form a technical committee. The committee will meet regularly, and the parties participating in the committee will routinely report progress to the Special Master. The Special Master encourages participation by only the parties’ experts and ADWR. The Committee has met on April 15, 2025, May 8, 2025, and June 19, 2025.
On May 14, 2025, the committee briefed the Special Master on proposed schedules for Technical Committee meetings and status conferences with the Special Master, concerns regarding the scope of committee members’ involvement in updating the groundwater flow model, and areas of disagreement regarding the design of the model. After this meeting, the Special Master approved the committee’s proposed schedule for status conferences. Further, in order to help the committee decide what each expert should contribute to the updated model, the Special Master included a list of potential tasks for the experts to take on. During the June 19, 2025, meeting committee members agreed to commit at least one day per month to the final work product. The next status conferences before the Special Master will take place on September 3, 2025, and November 12, 2025.
The delineation of the subflow zone for the Verde River Watershed is divided into two phases, each phase initiated by the filing of a technical report by ADWR. The first phase concerns the Sycamore Canyon Subwatershed and the mainstem of the Verde River, and the second phase concerns the remainder of the Verde River Watershed.
On October 24, 2023, the Special Master resolved all objections to ADWR’s “mainstem” technical report. On January 22, 2024, the Special Master resolved some of the objections to ADWR’s “remainder” technical report, setting a trial for August 2024 to resolve the remaining objections. In both orders, the Special Master stated that ADWR must revise the subflow zone delineations around certain reservoirs in the Verde River Watershed.
The Special Master held a trial concerning remaining objections to the remainder technical report between August 21 and 27, 2024. On March 5, 2025, the Special Master issued an order finding that Big Chino Wash and Partridge Creek, two tributaries to the Verde River, were ephemeral under predevelopment conditions. Further, the Special Master found reason to believe that ADWR improperly terminated subflow mapping on multiple streams. Ultimately, the Special Master ordered that ADWR must file by August 1, 2025, an addendum containing 1) the revisions ordered in the October 24, 2023, and January 22, 2024, orders and 2) a reevaluation of all subflow mapping termination points in the remainder technical report and extensions of those termination points, if needed.
Significant progress has been made toward the settlement of the water rights claims of the Hopi Tribe, Navajo Nation, and San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe. On May 24, 2024, a unanimous Navajo Nation Council and the Navajo Nation President approved the proposed Northeastern Arizona Indian Water Rights Settlement. The Hopi Tribe and San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe have also approved the proposed settlement. Because the proposed settlement relies on the provision of federal funds, Congress must now ratify the settlement.
The proposed settlement would resolve all Hopi, Navajo, and San Juan Southern Paiute claims to surface water from the Little Colorado River Basin; claims to groundwater from the Navajo Aquifer, Coconino Aquifer, and nearby alluvial aquifers; and claims to surface water from the Gila River Basin. The proposed settlement would also settle tribal claims to the Upper and Lower Basins of the Colorado River. A summary of the proposed settlement created by the Navajo Nation can be found here. An overview of the proposed settlement provided by the Kyl Center for Water Policy can be found here.
After the introduction of bills proposing the ratification of the settlement, the leaders of the Hopi Tribe, Navajo Nation, and San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe testified before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs as to the importance of the settlement. On March 11, 2025, Senator Mark Kelly reintroduced the Senate bill. On the same day, Representative Juan Ciscomani reintroduced the House bill.
Parties now await Congressional action. If Congress enacts the settlement, parties will gather again to sign any revisions necessitated by the legislation. After, the Department of the Interior will review the settlement. Following Department approval, the parties to the agreement will provide broad notice of the agreement and notice of an opportunity to object to the agreement. The Court will then consider objections to the settlement agreement and decide whether to issue a decree binding all parties to the adjudications to certain terms of the settlement.
Yavapai-Apache Nation SettlementAfter decades of on and off negotiations with neighboring water users, the Yavapai-Apache Nation is close to reaching a water rights settlement. On June 26, 2024, the Yavapai-Apache Nation Tribal Council voted to ratify the Yavapai-Apache Nation Water Rights Settlement Agreement. An overview of the settlement can be found here. If enacted by Congress and subsequently recognized in an adjudication decree, this settlement will permanently resolve the Yavapai-Apache Nation’s rights to water in the Verde River Watershed and the Gila River Basin.
On July 10, 2024, Senator Mark Kelly introduced a bill proposing Congressional approval of the agreement. Representative David Schweikert introduced a similar bill on July 8, 2024. The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs held a hearing to consider the Senate bill on September 25, 2024. Testimony from that hearing by the Yavapai-Apache Nation Chairwoman can be found here. Because a new session of Congress has begun since the introduction of these bills, the bills must be reintroduced in order to be considered.
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