Land Department v. O'Toole

OPINION

CORCORAN, Judge.

1. Background

This matter arises from a December 1985 Arizona Republic article in which Robert K. Lane, Land Commissioner, and Governor Bruce Babbitt were quoted as saying that Arizona may own, and may assert its right to, riverbeds which were navigable on February 14, 1912, when Arizona became a state. The federal Equal Footing Doctrine grants each state property rights to the riverbeds of all its waterways which were navigable on the date of statehood.

Before the article appeared, Arizona apparently had never asserted a claim of title to the Salt River bed or to any…