Arizona Laws 45-112. Violations; classification; enforcement
A. A person is guilty of a class 2 misdemeanor who:
Attorney's Note
Under the Arizona Laws, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:| Class | Prison | Fine |
|---|---|---|
| Class 2 misdemeanor | up to 4 months | up to $750 |
Terms Used In Arizona Laws 45-112
- Appropriator: means the person or persons initiating or perfecting the right to use appropriable water based on state law, or the person's successor or successors in interest. See Arizona Laws 45-101
- Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
- Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Person: includes a corporation, company, partnership, firm, association or society, as well as a natural person. See Arizona Laws 1-215
1. Knowingly and without authority opens, closes, changes or interferes with a lawfully established headgate, measuring device or water box.
2. Knowingly uses water or conducts into or through such person’s ditch water lawfully denied such person by the water superintendent or other competent authority.
3. Without authority uses water to which another is entitled except for water taken through a registered well without knowledge that such water constitutes the subflow of a river or stream.
4. Without authority diverts water from a stream.
5. Knowingly wastes water to the detriment of another.
6. Diverts a stream to the injury or threatened injury of the lands of another.
7. Uses, stores or diverts water without or before the issuance of a permit to appropriate such waters.
8. Places or maintains an obstruction interfering with the use of works, or prevents convenient access thereto, when an appropriator of water has the lawful right of way for the storage, diversion or carriage of such water.
B. The possession or use of water when it has been lawfully denied by the water superintendent or other competent authority is prima facie evidence of the guilt of the person using it.
C. The water superintendent or the water superintendent’s assistants, within the water superintendent’s district, may arrest any person violating this section and deliver that person to the sheriff or other police officer within the county, and on delivery shall immediately make a complaint against that person before a justice of the peace. If no water superintendent has been appointed for a water district, any affected person within the district may make a complaint to the sheriff or other police officer within the county against a person who violates this section.