Arizona AG sues Saudi firm over ‘excessive’ groundwater pumping, saying it’s a public nuisance

By GABRIEL SANDOVAL and ANITA SNOW
Updated 8:07 PM EST, December 11, 2024

PHOENIX (AP) — "Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced Wednesday she’s suing a Saudi Arabian agribusiness for allegedly violating a public nuisance law, contending that its groundwater pumping threatens the public health, safety and infrastructure of local communities in a rural western county.

"The complaint filed in Maricopa County Superior Court alleges that the pumping at a #FondomonteArizonaLLC alfalfa farm has had widespread effects in the #RanegrasPlainBasin of La Paz County, harming everyone who depends on basin water by drawing down supplies, drying up wells and causing the ground to crack and sink in some areas.

"The lawsuit is the latest action by Arizona against foreign companies that use huge amounts of groundwater to grow thirsty forage crops for export because of climate challenges in other countries. Rural #Arizona is especially attractive to international businesses because it has no groundwater pumping regulations.

"The lawsuit alleges that since 2014, #Fondomonte has extracted huge amounts of water that accelerated depletion of the basin’s aquifer. The company is a subsidiary of Saudi dairy giant #Almarai Co."

https://apnews.com/article/arizona-groundwater-pumping-fondomonte-b586786d9e403f50d6725891e74f69ec
#WaterIsLife #WaterExtraction #BigAg #BigAgribusiness #ArizonaWater

https://www.azag.gov/press-release/attorney-general-mayes-sues-fondomonte-violating-public-nuisance-law-through

#water #Arizona #fondomonte

via @arizonamirror

If #Hobbs is serious about protecting #groundwater, she must work to close the #mining loophole

by Russ McSpadden
February 12, 2024

"In her first State of the State address just over a year ago, Gov. #KatieHobbs was unequivocal about her commitment to tackling one of the state’s greatest challenges: our dwindling #water supply.

“Our groundwater should be used to support #Arizonans, not foreign business interests,” she said in that speech, referring to the Saudi Arabian conglomerate #Fondomonte. Over the past few years, Fondomonte has been pumping unlimited amounts of groundwater in La Paz County for alfalfa crops that it ships to feed cows on the other side of the earth.

"Though the Hobbs administration has already canceled one of Fondomonte’s four leases and says it won’t renew the others when they’re up this month, the problem doesn’t end with Saudi agriculture.

"It’s also mining companies that take advantage of loopholes in the state’s water laws to maximize profit at the expense of Arizonans — including mining giants #RioTinto and# BHP.

"Because of intense pressure from #lobbyists, when lawmakers adopted the much-heralded #ArizonaGroundwaterManagementAct in 1980 they exempted #mines from groundwater regulation, even when located in #ActiveManagement Areas — state-designated areas where groundwater pumping is controlled. That means that mines can pump unlimited amounts of water without paying the state a dime.

"This exemption was controversial in 1980. Today it’s existentially dangerous.

#ResolutionCopper, a subsidiary of Rio Tinto and BHP, is a perfect example. Their proposed mine at #OakFlat — about 70 miles east of #Phoenix in the #TontoNationalForest and within the Phoenix Active Management Area — would pump 250 billion gallons of desert groundwater over the life of the project.

"That’s 17 million gallons of water every day for four decades.

"Under current water prices, that equates to $404 million worth of groundwater that Resolution Copper will get for free. Arizona won’t see a cent for it. And it’s more than likely that the copper ore from Oak Flat will be exported to China for smelting, again depriving local communities of economic benefit.

"This limitless pumping would happen even as the #megadrought that has plagued the #AmericanSouthwest for the past two decades is likely to worsen, straining the #ColoradoRiver and #Gila rivers even more and making us all more reliant on groundwater aquifers.

"If left intact, the mining loophole will facilitate construction of Resolution’s massive mine. The extreme water pumping from the #EastSaltRiverValley will lead to groundwater depletion and subsidence, threatening to deplete wells and damage infrastructure.

"The #CenterForBiologicalDiversity, where I work, has been fighting for decades to stop this mine, and Canadian mining company Hudbay’s disastrous plan to mine for copper in the #SantaRita Mountains south of #Tucson (in the Tucson Active Management Area).

"Both projects would devastate surrounding fragile #ecosystems, pushing endangered species like the #MexicanSpottedOwl closer to the brink of #extinction. They would also destroy sacred #TribalLands and gulp down massive amounts of water when other users are being asked to conserve.

"Handing mines unlimited access to Arizona’s precious desert groundwater would be an injustice to Arizona’s #Tribes and every resident of this state.

"Fortunately, Hobbs has the vision and courage to fight for a secure water future for Arizona. It is time for her to work with legislators to close the mining loophole in Arizona water law and subject mines to the same groundwater pumping limits that apply to other entities within the state’s Active Management Areas.

"We’re hopeful she will work to block #ResolutionCopperMine and other terrible mining projects like #Hudbay’s. At the very least, it’s time for mining giants to pay for the water they use just like the rest of us."

https://azmirror.com/2024/02/12/if-hobbs-is-serious-about-protecting-groundwater-she-must-work-to-close-the-mining-loophole/

#WaterIsLife #HumanRightsViolations #CulturalGenocide #CopperMining #Mining #CorporateColonialism #EnvironmentalRacism #IndigenousNews #SaveOakFlat #IndigenousRights #Apache

Saudi firm #Fondomonte has been growing hay and alfalfa in arid #Arizona, for export to feed Saudi cattle.

They grow these thirsty crops on government owned farmlands, at below-market lease rates. Nobody knows how much #water they actually use, as they don't disclose that.

And now it turns out they haven't been paying their lease. So Gov. Katie Hobbs is terminating that lease, and not renewing three others in February.

https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2023-10-05/arizona-ends-saudi-fondomonte-water-farmland-leases

Maybe AZ AG Kris Mayes Didn't Cancel Tucker Carlson But She Did Save State's Water From Saudi Arabia https://www.wonkette.com/maybe-az-ag-kris-mayes-didn-t-cancel-tucker-carlson-but-she-did-save-state-s-water-from-saudi-arabia

#Kris_mayes_arizona_attorney_general #Saudi_arabia #Water #Arizona #Katie_hobbs #Fondomonte #Kris_mayes

Why does Saudi Arabia control so much of Arizona’s water?

#ArizonaRepublic #NYT

#investigation #drought #foreigni fluence #corruption #DougDucey #Water #Desert #Fondomonte #Almarai #land #aquifers #wells #realestate #Agriculture

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/26/opinion/arizona-water-colorado-river-saudi-arabia.html