PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced Wednesday that she is suing a Saudi Arabian agricultural company for allegedly violating a public nuisance law.
The lawsuit, filed in Maricopa County Superior Court, alleges that pumping at a Fondomonte Arizona, LLC. The alfalfa farm had widespread impacts on the Ranegrass Plain Basin in La Paz County, harming those who rely on the basin’s water by depleting water supplies, drying up wells, and causing the ground to crack and sink in some areas.
The lawsuit is Arizona’s latest lawsuit against foreign companies that utilize immense amounts of groundwater to grow thirsty forage crops for export due to climate challenges in other countries. Rural Arizona is particularly attractive to international companies because there are no regulations governing groundwater extraction.
The lawsuit alleges that Fondomonte has withdrawn immense amounts of water since 2014, accelerating the depletion of the basin’s aquifer. The company is a subsidiary of Saudi dairy giant Almarai Co.
“We consider the Attorney General’s allegations to be completely unfounded and will vigorously defend any possible lawsuit against Fondomonte and our rights before the relevant authorities,” Fondomonte said in a statement on Wednesday.
“The company has invested significantly to adopt the latest conservation technology and adopt environmentally sound practices on these long-established farms,” it said. “Fondomonte has developed responsibly during its time as a farm in the state and the company complies with all state regulations. ”
Years of drought have increased pressure on water users across the West, particularly in states like Arizona that rely heavily on the dwindling Colorado River. The drought has also made groundwater – long fully used by farmers and rural residents – even more significant to users across the state.
Mayes told reporters Wednesday that the Arizona Legislature has done nothing to address the groundwater problem, despite knowing about the problem for years.
“While legislation regulating groundwater extraction could have prevented this situation, legislative inaction has caused the crisis to worsen,” Mayes said. “When lawmakers fail to protect our most basic resources, the attorney general must step in.”
La Paz County Executive Holly Irwin, a Republican, praised Mayes, a Democrat, for trying to address what she called her community’s “biggest” concern.
“I know my constituents will be thrilled that someone is actually paying attention to the real issues here,” Irwin said during Wednesday’s news conference via video conference.
Mayes’ lawsuit alleges that Fondomonte’s actions constitute a public nuisance under a state law that prohibits activities that injure health, impede the utilize of property or interfere with a community’s pleasant enjoyment of life or property.
Mayes called the company’s groundwater extraction “unsustainable” and said it had “devastating consequences” for people in the region.
“Arizona law is clear: No company has the right to jeopardize the health and safety of an entire community for its own benefit,” she said.
The lawsuit seeks to ban the company from further pumping groundwater, which it says is “excessive,” and to demand the creation of a mitigation fund.
Arizona officials have targeted Fondomonte for more than a year over its utilize of groundwater to grow forage crops because the company’s leases in western Arizona’s Butler Valley were not renewed or terminated. Some residents there had complained that the company’s pumps were endangering 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 report on undercovered issues.
