ARIZONA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Fifty-sixth Legislature

First Regular Session

House: NREW DP 10-0-0-0

HB2443: navigable stream adjudication commission; extension

Sponsor: Representative Griffin, LD 19

House Engrossed

Overview

Extends the Arizona Navigable Stream Adjudication Commission to July 1, 2028.

History

The Legislature created the Arizona Navigable Stream Adjudication Commission (ANSAC) in 1992 to resolve questions about the state's claim to ownership of riverbeds that were prompted by a court case (Laws 1992, Chapter 297). In Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest v. Hassell, 172 Ariz. 356 (Ariz. Ct. App. 1992), the Arizona Court of Appeals held that a 1987 law disclaiming ownership of all riverbeds with the exception of the Colorado, Gila, Verde and Salt Rivers violated a precedent established by the U.S. Supreme Court relating to the public trust doctrine. That precedent held that states retained ownership of the beds of streams and rivers that were navigable at the time of statehood. Those beds were to be held in public trust and could not be conveyed unless doing so promoted a public purpose.

ANSAC, which consists of five members appointed by the Governor, was created to hold public hearings and review evidence to determine the ownership of the beds in each of Arizona's 39,039 streams and rivers at statehood and any public trust values associated with those watercourses. (A.R.S. § 37-1121 et seq.). If those waterways were navigable at statehood, the land in their beds is considered state trust land to be held in public trust. However, if the waterways were not navigable at statehood, then the land belongs to the current titleholder. Apart from the Colorado River, ANSAC determined that all of Arizona's 39,039 watercourses were non-navigable at the time of statehood.

ANSAC's determinations have undergone several rounds of litigation, but the only remaining case involves the determinations of non-navigability for the Gila, Salt and Verde Rivers. That case is with the Arizona Court of Appeals, which has not issued a decision (1 CA-CV 20-0295).

ANSAC was last extended in 2019 and will terminate on July 1, 2024 (Laws 2019, Chapter 26 and A.R.S. § 37-1121).

Provisions

1. Continues ANSAC to July 1, 2028. (Sec. 1)

2. Makes technical changes (Sec. 1).

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6. HB 2443

7. Initials PAB/AH Page 0 House Engrossed

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