Fondomonte: Arizona AG Kris Mayes suing company over groundwater pumping
LA PAZ COUNTY, Ariz. - A spokesperson with the Arizona Attorney General's Office says they are suing Fondomonte Arizona, LLC over allegations of excessive groundwater pumping in western Arizona.
In a statement, state AG officials say the lawsuit alleges that Fondomonte's pumping of groundwater in La Paz County had "widespread effects, including declining groundwater levels and escalating land subsidence."
"The complaint alleges that these actions constitute a public nuisance under Arizona Revised Statutes § 13-2917, defined as any activity that injures health, obstructs property use, or interferes with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property by a community," read a portion of the statement.
Officials allege that since 2014, Fondomonte has taken out "extraordinary amounts of groundwater" to grow alfalfa for export to Saudi Arabia. They say in 2023 alone, about 31,194 acre-feet of water was taken out.
"Fondomonte’s unsustainable groundwater pumping has caused devastating consequences for the Ranegras Plain Basin, putting the health and future of the residents of La Paz County at risk," AG Mayes said, in the statement.
Lawyers representing the state, according to the statement, are seeking a court order to declare Fondomonte Arizona's activities a public nuisance, as well as banning Fondomonte from "further excessive groundwater pumping," and requiring the setting up of an abatement fund.
Fondomonte's groundwater pumping
We have covered the controversy over Fondomonte in the past.
Fondomonte Arizona is a subsidiary of Saudi dairy giant Almarai Co., and the subsidiary raised eyebrows when in 2014 it purchased nearly 10,000 acres (4,047 hectares) of land for $47.5 million about 20 miles (32 kilometers) away from Butler Valley in Vicksburg, Arizona. Since then, a worsening drought in Arizona has brought renewed attention to the company's water use and the broader issues of foreign-owned farms and groundwater pumping.
In October 2023, Governor Katie Hobbs announced the termination of a groundwater lease for the firm in western Arizona's Butler Valley. Gov. Hobbs also announced that three other leases in the area will not be renewed. At the time, Fondomonte officials vowed to appeal the decision.
In Arizona, cities such as Phoenix and Tucson have restrictions on how much groundwater they can pump under a 1980 state law aimed at protecting the state’s aquifers. But in rural areas, little is required of water users to pump from underground aquifers besides registering wells with the state and using the water for activities, including farming, that are deemed a "beneficial use."
Almarai’s holdings in the Southwest are just one example of the farmland the company and its subsidiaries operate outside Saudi Arabia. It farms tens of thousands of acres in Argentina, which has also faced severe drought conditions in recent years.