Arizona draws a line on groundwater use after letting Saudi-owned company pump freely for years

[ad_1] For years, the water desk has been dropping beneath 1000's of acres of desert farmland in western Arizona, the place a Saudi-owned dairy firm has been allowed to pump limitless quantities of groundwater to develop hay for its cows.

However the firm and different landowners within the space will now face limits beneath a call by state officers to impose regulation.

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs stated Monday that her administration is appearing to “crack down on the out-of-state particular pursuits which can be pumping our state dry whereas Arizona households and farmers undergo.”

Fondomonte, a part of the Saudi dairy large Almarai, is by far the biggest water consumer within the space, utilizing dozens of wells to to irrigate alfalfa that it ships abroad to the Center East.

After conducting a evaluation, the state Division of Water Assets designated the Ranegras Plain space, positioned 100 miles west of Phoenix, as a brand new “energetic administration space” to protect the groundwater.

This isn’t the primary time the Democratic governor and her administration have used this strategy to curb extreme pumping in a rural areas. In January 2025, her administration equally established a brand new regulated space to restrict agricultural pumping across the metropolis of Willcox in southeastern Arizona.

Hobbs identified that some residents’ wells have gone dry as water ranges have plummeted within the Ranegras Plain, and that the land has been sinking because the aquifer is depleted.

“Not like politicians of the previous, I refuse to bury my head within the sand. I refuse to disregard the issues we face,” Hobbs stated Monday in her state of the state handle. “We are able to not sit idly by whereas our rural communities go with out assist. They deserve options and safety, not one other decade of inaction and uncertainty.”

The state’s motion will prohibit landowners from irrigating any further farmland on this a part of La Paz County and require these with high-capacity wells to start out reporting how a lot water they use. It additionally will deliver different adjustments, forming an area advisory council and requiring a plan to scale back water use.

State officers reached the choice after receiving greater than 400 feedback from the general public on the proposal, the overwhelming majority in assist. Tom Buschatzke, director of the Arizona Division of Water Assets, issued the choice, saying the way forward for residents and native companies “relies upon upon defending the finite groundwater assets.”

Based on state information, water ranges in wells in elements of the realm have dropped greater than 200 ft over the past 40 years, and pumping has elevated over the past decade.

Some residents who spoke at a listening to final month stated it’s unsuitable that Fondomonte will get to make use of the water to develop hay and export it the world over. Others stated they don’t see any downside with having a overseas firm as their neighbor however consider farms should change to much less water-intensive crops.

Following the state’s announcement, Fondomonte stated in a written assertion that it's “dedicated to progressive, environment friendly agricultural practices,” helps the farming group, and “has invested considerably to deliver the newest expertise to preserve water” on its farms. The corporate additionally stated it could adjust to state and native laws.

The corporate at present faces a lawsuit filed by Arizona Atty. Gen. Kris Mayes alleging that its extreme pumping violates the legislation by inflicting declines in groundwater, land subsidence and worsening water high quality. That lawsuit is about to proceed whereas the state additionally imposes its new regulatory limits.

Holly Irwin, a La Paz County supervisor who for years has pushed to guard the realm’s water, stated she’s happy the state lastly acted “to cease the bleeding that threatens the vitality of our group.”

“It’s a giant win,” stated Irwin, a Republican. “It’s going to forestall different megafarms from having the ability to transfer into the realm and arrange the identical kind of operation that Fondamonte has happening proper now. And it’ll stop them from increasing.”

Fondomonte began its Arizona farming operation in 2014. Saudi Arabia has banned the home farming of alfalfa and different forage crops as a result of the nation’s groundwater has been depleted. Consequently, Saudi firms have been shopping for farmland abroad.

A lawyer for the corporate has stated it owns 3,600 acres on this a part of Arizona. The corporate additionally rents 3,088 acres of farmland and three,163 acres of grazing land within the state.

As well as, it owns 3,375 acres of California farmland close to Blythe, the place it makes use of Colorado River water to irrigate alfalfa fields.

Efforts to handle the depletion of groundwater current complicated challenges for communities and authorities businesses in Arizona, California and different Western states, the place local weather change is exacerbating strains on water provides.

Arizona’s present groundwater legislation, adopted in 1980, limits pumping in Phoenix, Tucson and different city areas. However these guidelines don't apply to about 80% of the state, which has allowed massive farming firms and buyers to drill wells and pump as a lot as they need.

Since Hobbs took workplace in 2023, she has supported efforts to handle overpumping. In a single step supposed to rein in water use, she terminated Fondomonte’s leases of three,520 acres of state-owned farmland in Butler Valley in western Arizona. That call adopted an Arizona Republic investigation that exposed the state had given Fondomonte discounted, below-market lease charges.