Arizona AG sues Saudi company for ‘excessive’ pumping of groundwater, saying it is a public nuisance
PHOENIX — Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced Wednesday that she is suing a Saudi agribusiness for allegedly violating a public nuisance law, claiming groundwater pumping threatened 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 took place at Fondomonte Arizona, LLC. Alfalfa cultivation has had far-reaching effects in the Ranegras Plain Basin in La Paz County, harming all those who depend on the basin’s water by reducing supplies, drying up wells, and causing cracks and subsidence of the ground in certain areas.
The lawsuit is the latest action Arizona has filed against foreign companies that use massive amounts of groundwater to grow thirsty feed crops for export due to climate challenges in other countries. Rural Arizona is particularly attractive to international companies because there are no regulations on groundwater pumping.
The lawsuit alleges that since 2014, Fondomonte has extracted enormous amounts of water, accelerating the depletion of the basin’s aquifer. The company is a subsidiary of Saudi dairy giant Almarai Co.
“We find the Attorney General’s allegations completely unfounded and we will vigorously defend any potential action against Fondomonte and our rights before the appropriate authorities,” Fondomonte said in a statement Wednesday.
“The company has invested significantly to bring the latest conservation technologies and applies environmentally friendly practices to these long-established farms,” he said. “Fondomonte has continued to grow responsibly during its agricultural operation in the state and the company complies with all state regulations. »
Years of drought have increased pressure on water users throughout the West, especially in states like Arizona that rely heavily on the declining Colorado River. The drought has also made groundwater – long used without restriction by farmers and rural residents – even more important to users across the state.
Mayes told reporters Wednesday that the Arizona Legislature has done nothing to address the groundwater problem, even though it has known about it for years.
“While laws regulating groundwater pumping could have prevented this situation, legislative inaction allowed the crisis to worsen,” Mayes said. “When the legislature fails to protect our most basic resources, the attorney general must step in. »
La Paz County Supervisor Holly Irwin, a Republican, praised Mayes, a Democrat, for trying to address what she described as her community’s “most difficult” concern.
“I know my constituents will be excited about this, that someone is actually paying attention to the real issues here,” Irwin said during Wednesday’s press briefing via video conference.
Mayes’ lawsuit alleges that Fondomonte’s actions constitute a public nuisance under a state law that prohibits activities that harm health, interfere with the use of property or interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life or ownership by a community.
Mayes called the company’s groundwater pumping “unsustainable” and said it had had “devastating consequences” for area residents.
“Arizona law is clear: No business has the right to endanger the health and safety of an entire community for its own benefit,” she said.
The lawsuit seeks to prohibit the company from further pumping of groundwater it considers “excessive” and to require the creation of a reduction fund.
Arizona authorities have targeted Fondomonte for more than a year over its use of groundwater to grow feed crops, failing to renew or cancel the company’s leases in Butler Valley in western Arizona. Some residents had complained that the company’s pumping threatened their wells.
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Gabriel Sandoval is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to cover under-reported issues.
