The Tonto Apache Tribal Market, Smoke Shop, and Gas Station are. Today the Tonto Apache Tribe proudly owns and operates several businesses including the Mazatzal Hotel & Casino, Tonto Apache Gym and Tonto Apache Market. On the 85 acre reservation was signed by President Nixon for the use and benefit of the Tonto Apache Tribe.

CV-98-0143-SA In Re the General Adjudication of All Rights to use Water in the Gila River System and Source Maricopa County Nos. PEARCE, Legal ) Counsel for the Arizona Department ) of Water Resources, and RITA ) PEARSON, Director, Arizona ) Department of Water Resources, ) ) Respondents, ) ) and ) ) JANET NAPOLITANO, Arizona Attorney ) General ARIZONA STATE LAND ) DEPARTMENT SALT RIVER VALLEY ) WATER USERS ASSOCIATION PHELPS ) DODGE CORPORATION ROOSEVELT WATER ) CONSERVATION DISTRICT and all ) other claimants to water rights in ) the Gila River System and Source, ) ) Real Parties in Interest. BOLTON, Judge of the ) Superior Court of the State of ) Arizona, in and for the County of ) Maricopa MICHAEL J. Gym/Physical Fitness Center.SUPREME COURT OF ARIZONA En Banc THE SAN CARLOS APACHE TRIBE, THE TONTO APACHE TRIBE, and THE YAVAPAI-APACHE NATION, all Federally recognized Indian Tribes ) ) ) ) ) ) Petitioners, ) ) v. Contact Tonto Apache Tribal Gym on Messenger. Get Directions (928) 474-7093.

Cannata Attorneys for Respondents Michael J. Bolton Phoenix Miller, LaSota & Peters, P.L.C. Stuart Attorney for Respondent Judge Hon. Ryley Attorneys for Petitioners San Carlos Apache Tribe, Tonto Apache Tribe, and Yavapai-Apache Nation Scottsdale Gary L.

Chandley - and Gust Rosenfeld, P.L.C. McKnight Attorneys for Real Parties in Interest Salt River Valley Water Users Association, Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District, and City of Tempe Phoenix Phelps Dodge Corporation Phoenix By: Cynthia M. Clifford Charlotte Benson Attorneys for Real Parties in Interest Janet Napolitano and Arizona State Land Department Phoenix Salmon Lewis & Weldon, P.L.C.

Barrow - and Whiteing & Thompson By: Jeanne S. Chambers Attorneys for Joinder Real Party in Interest Hopi Indian Tribe Barrow & Barrow By: Irene F. Scott Canty Phoenix Kykotsmovi 2 - and Sonosky Chambers Sachse & Enderson Washington, D.C. Ulrich Attorneys for Joinder Real Parties in Interest Cities of Chandler, Glendale, Mesa, and Scottsdale Hopi Indian Tribe By: A. Sanders Attorneys for Real Parties in Interest Roosevelt Water Conservation District and Arizona Public Service Company Phoenix Brown & Brown Pinetop By: David Albert Brown Michael John Brown Attorneys for Joinder Real Parties in Interest Gila Valley Irrigation District and Franklin Irrigation District Ulrich Kessler & Anger, P.C. By: George Read Carlock Michael J.

В§ 45-252(C), and because petitioners have no remedy by appeal, Rule 1(a), Ariz. Because the court has the statutory responsibility for assigning judges to the general adjudication, A.R.S. Judge Bolton has acknowledged that ex parte communications took place, but has expressed the view that she is permitted to consult with the DWR on technical issues and that such consultation can be ex parte. Petitioners seek to disqualify the respondent judge assigned to the Adjudication, the Honorable Susan Bolton, and chief legal counsel for the Arizona Department of Water Resources (DWR), Michael Pearce, based on ex parte communications among the judge, Pearce, and DWR. Petitioners are claimants in a consolidated action known generally as the Gila River General Stream Adjudication, which will adjudicate the water rights in the Gila River and its sources. в™Ў Petitioners, the San Carlos Apache Tribe, the Tonto Apache Tribe, and the Yavapai-Apache Nation, filed an original petition for special action with this court pursuant to the Arizona Rules of 3 Procedure for Special Actions, 17B A.R.S.

The synopsis then briefly described the potential impact of the amendments and posed such issues as whether their adoption would require DWR to revise the HSRs and whether revision should await resolution of three of the six issues this court had agreed to review. The synopsis first discussed the San Pedro River and Upper Salt River hydrographic survey reports (HSRs), indicating that the proposed legislative amendments would substantively alter the manner in which state law claims are presented and analyzed in the HSR. We hope that this will be helpful to you in preparing for your first status conference with the parties. 5 be the most immediate issues facing the superior court in the Gila River general stream adjudication. We relate the details of the ex parte communications to indicate their nature and substance. в™¤ Pearce first corresponded with Judge Bolton on February 23, 1995, stating in pertinent part: As we discussed in our meeting last week, Steve Erb has prepared the enclosed synopsis of what we believe to 1 This and subsequent communications between Judge Bolton, Pearce, and other DWR personnel to which we refer in this opinion are found in documents that Judge Bolton and others initially submitted to the court under seal the documents have since been unsealed by this court.

6 request for an HSR by minute entry dated August 31, 1995, adopting the suggested text almost verbatim. Judge Bolton did not indicate when she received the document given its date, it was presumably given to her at the February meeting referred to in Pearce s letter. The document was prepared by DWR in February 1995. Judge Bolton granted the GRIC s 2 One of the documents Judge Bolton submitted to the court is entitled Technical Principles of Water Rights Adjudications in Arizona and covers such topics as Overview of Adjudications, General Hydrologic Principles, and Current Water Uses. Pearce stated the suggested text carefully define the nature of the request for technical assistance from the director and gave DWR clear direction and useful latitude. Pearce told Judge Bolton he was enclosing, as you requested, the suggested text for a minute entry that would address a petition by the Gila River Indian Community (GRIC) for an HSR of its reservation.

Judge Bolton, two other adjudication judges, the water master, DWR s director, Pearce, and two more DWR employees gathered for a retreat in Clifton, Arizona, on November 12 and 13, 1996.

Tonto Apache Reservation