Calmat of Arizona v. State ex rel. Miller

In Calmat of Arizona v. State ex rel. Miller, 172 Ariz. 300, 836 P.2d 1010 (App. 1992), affirmed in part and vacated in part on other grounds, 176 Ariz. 190, 859 P.2d 1323 (1993), the plaintiff in an inverse condemnation action argued that the State should be estopped from asserting an ownership interest in the River's bedlands because the State's motion for summary judgment in Hassell had argued that the State did not own the Salt River bed. Id. at 310-11, 836 P.2d at 1020-21. The Court held that the State was not only free to assert the navigability and its ownership of the River's bedlands, but had a duty to do so under the public trust doctrine. Id. at 311, 836 P.2d at 1021.