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Response from Special Master, George Schade Regarding How a Person Can Determine Whether a Statement of Claimant Has Been Filed or is Necessary
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Ms. Lind, Once again, thank you very much for publicizing the letter. The first source of help for the questions you raise is the Arizona Department of Water Resources at the telephone numbers given in the letter. Those telephone numbers will connect the caller to the staff who handle adjudications filings. Although the Department cannot give legal advice, the staff has always been very helpful and prompt in providing data and information. The Department has computerized data bases which can be searched. The Department can search for a statement of claimant using the known name of the prior owner or a land description. The adjudications staff can refer the caller to either the surface or groundwater sections, if other water rights filings are necessary. For example, if an old well was never registered (which is a statutory requirement apart from the adjudications), the well must be registered. Then an adjudications statement of claimant would be filed. Generally, any person who is using water should either file a statement of claimant for every water use, or if a statement was filed by a prior owner, the statement should be assigned to the current owner. The major exceptions to this statement are people who receive water delivered by cities, towns, irrigation districts, or water companies. In these situations, the water providers have filed statements of claimant on behalf of their customers and members, but the individual customer or member should confirm this has been done. Pertinent statutes to your questions are A.R.S. ยงยง 45-453 and 45-254. You may wish to contact Janet L. Ronald, Esq., who is the Department's attorney most knowledgeable with adjudications. |
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