1-37-106. Adjudication of water rights.

(a) The state of Wyoming upon the relation of the attorney general may institute an action to have determined in a general adjudication the nature, extent, and relative priority of the water rights of all persons in any river system and all other sources, provided:

(i) For the purposes of this section:

(A) The term "general adjudication" shall mean the judicial determination or establishment of the extent and priority of the rights to use water of all persons on any river system and all other sources within the state of Wyoming. The court conducting such a general adjudication shall:

(I) Certify to the state board of control those legal and factual issues which the court deems appropriate for the board to determine. Upon such certification, the board shall exercise those powers and follow those procedures set forth in Rule 53 of the Wyoming Rules of Civil Procedure;

(II) Confirm those rights evidenced by previous court decrees, or by certificates of appropriation, or by certificates of construction heretofore issued by the Wyoming state board of control;

(III) Determine the status of all uncancelled permits to acquire the right to the use of the water of the state of Wyoming and adjudicate all perfected rights thereunder not theretofore adjudicated under W.S. 41-4-511;

(IV) Determine the extent and priority date of and adjudicate any interest in or right to use the water of the river system and all other sources not otherwise represented by the aforedescribed decrees, certificates, or permits;

(V) Establish, in whatever form determined to be most appropriate by the court, one or more tabulations or lists of all water rights and their relative priorities on the river system and all other sources.

(B) The word "person" shall be construed to mean an individual, a partnership, a corporation, a municipality, the state of Wyoming, the United States of America, or any other legal entity, public or private.

(ii) When the potential defendants number one thousand (1,000) or more, personal service of a summons and complaint shall not be required and (A) the court shall order that the clerk obtain service on known potential defendants by mailing a court-approved notice of the action by certified mail, return receipt requested, and (B) the court shall order that the clerk obtain service on all unknown parties by publication of said notice for four (4) consecutive weeks in a newspaper published in each of the counties within which interests in and rights to the use of water may be affected by the adjudication. If there is no newspaper in one (1) or more of said counties, then publication for such counties shall be in one (1) or more newspapers published in the state, and of general circulation within said counties. If publication is in a daily newspaper, one (1) insertion a week shall be sufficient;

(iii) The complaint for such a general adjudication shall be captioned: "In re the General Adjudication of All Rights to Use Water in the .... River System and All Other Sources, State of Wyoming";

(iv) When the water rights to be determined are located in more than one (1) county, the general adjudication may be brought in any of the counties.