In a major water ruling on September 13, the Arizona Supreme
Court said that the state has no priority “reserved” right to
water on lands given it in trust from the state. The decision
was considered a major setback for state government water right
efforts. The case was launched by various water right claimants
suggesting that the state had overreached in its assessment of
what water it controls. In an appeal from the Gila River
Adjudication, the court said “The State of Arizona filed an
interlocutory appeal from an order issued in the general stream
adjudications of the Gila River System and Source and the Little
Colorado River System and Source. At issue is whether federal
water rights were impliedly reserved on lands granted by the
United States government to the State of Arizona to support
education and other public institutions (“State Trust Lands”).
We accepted review and now affirm the superior court’s ruling
that there are no implied federal reserved water rights for
State Trust Lands.” The court’s an