The Gila River General Stream Adjudication is a Maricopa County Superior Court civil case initiated in 1979 in order to resolve the status of all rights for the use of surface water in the Gila River watershed.

Initially started as petitions to the State Land Department to determine conflicting water rights for the Salt, Verde, Gila and San Pedro rivers; these cases were eventually transferred to the superior courts in the counties where the original petitions were filed.

On November 25, 1981, the Supreme Court ordered the consolidation of the adjudications for the Salt, Verde and San Pedro rivers with the adjudication pending on the Gila river. The Supreme Court also ordered that this adjudication be conducted in the State Superior Court in the county having "the greatest number of potential claimants." Accordingly, the consolidated adjudication was transferred to the Maricopa County Superior Court and assigned case number W-1, W-2, W-3 and W-4 (Consolidated), In re the General Adjudication of All Rights to Use Water in the Gila River System and Source.

Early in the general stream adjudication process, the Maricopa County Superior Court established a procedure whereby the Clerk of Superior Court was to prepare a monthly docket containing specific information that was to be provided to specific parties. This procedure was outlined in Pre-Trial Order No. One of May 29, 1986.

The case numbers below link to the dockets prepared by the Clerk’s office in accordance to Pre-Trial Order Number One. Dockets available on-line begin with the year 2001. For access to dockets previous to the year 2001, please contact the Maricopa County Clerk of Superior Court.

Adjudication Case Dockets

Additional Resources

• Little Colorado River Adjudication Description and Docket
• Clerk of the Superior Court for Apache County - The Honorable Annell Hounshell
• Office of the Special Master, Arizona General Stream Adjudication - Special Master Susan Harris
• Arizona General Stream Adjudication Bulletin
• Arizona Department of Water Resources

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