You may explore this website for information about the adjudication. You may also call the Joe M Stell Water Ombudsman Program, toll free at 1-800-822-6134 and leave a message with your name, telephone number, subfile number if you know it and any questions that you might have. The Ombudsman will return your call by the next business day.

The State is joining parties by sections. Currently, it is working in the La Plata area. It may be that the State is not yet working in your section, depending on where you use your water rights. If you have water rights in the La Plata area and have not received a consent order packet from the State by June 30, 2008, please call the State's attorney for the San Juan, Tracy Hofmann. The State's toll-free number is 1-800-923-3766. At the prompt, please press 2.

If your water right will be addressed at a hearing, you will receive a notice of that hearing in the mail. If you wish to attend the general status conferences that occur about every other month, your may check for dates and times on the website at Hearing and Deadline Dates.

The Joe M Stell Ombudsman Program of the Utton Center at the UNM Law School is dedicated to helping defendants in water rights adjudications understand and navigate the adjudication process and forms.

The Program is not affiliated with the Court or the Office of the State Engineer, but rather serves the public as an independent information resource.

You may call the Ombudsman Program toll free at 1-866-822-6134. An Ombudsman team member will return your call by the next business day. You may also check out our website at http://uttoncenter.unm.edu/

Adjudications are complex legal proceedings that affect valuable property rights: people's water rights. In any lawsuit involving important legal issues, it is usually to your advantage to consult with qualified legal counsel early in the process. Early consultation with an attorney will help you in making the decision of whether to retain an attorney.

Any person or entity who uses water or has made a claim to use water, within the San Juan River Basin, may be affected. The final decrees will establish the existence and ownership of claimed water rights as well as important attributes of the water rights including location of diversions, water users, quantity of water used and date of priority of water rights.

The general stream adjudications are judicial proceedings to determine the extent and priority of water rights. Thousands of water claimants and water users are joined in these cases. Following the adjudication of the water rights in the San Juan River Basin, the court will enter a comprehensive final decree for those water rights.

In order to protect the rights of all parties in a lawsuit, judges will not communicate with parties or their attorneys without all litigants being present. If you need to communicate with a judge about your lawsuit and you are represented by an attorney, your attorney will know the proper procedures for contacting the court. If you are representing yourself in a lawsuit you can purchase the form Request for Hearing at the Aztec District Court, 103 S. Oliver, Aztec, NM 87410 for 35 cents per page.

Court clerks are not permitted to give legal advice. Court clerks can provide you with general administrative information, such as available court services, filing fees, and court scheduling. Clerks may not, however, tell you what documents you need to file, the meaning of court documents, how to complete documents or forms, or provide other legal advice. If you are unsure about court procedures or have questions concerning your lawsuit, you should contact a private attorney licensed to practice in the State of New Mexico.