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

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes says she is suing a Saudi Arabian agribusiness over what she calls “excessive pumping” of groundwater

PHOENIX -- 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 Fondomonte alfalfa farm has had widespread effects in the Ranegras Plain Basin 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 that accelerated depletion of the basin’s aquifer.

The Associated Press called and emailed Fondomonte Arizona, a subsidiary of Saudi Dairy giant Almarai Co., seeking a response to the lawsuit Wednesday. Its lawyers have previously said that the company legally leased and purchased land in the U.S. and spent millions on infrastructure improvements.

Years of drought have increased pressure on water users across the West, particularly in states like Arizona, which relies heavily on the dwindling Colorado River. The drought has also made groundwater — long used by farmers and rural residents without restriction — even more important for users across the state.

Mayes' lawsuit alleges that Fondomonte's actions are a public nuisance under a state statute that prohibits activity that injures health, obstructs property use, or interferes with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property by a community.

Mayes called the company’s groundwater pumping “unsustainable” and said it caused “devastating consequences” for people in the area.

“Arizona law is clear: no company has the right to endanger an entire community’s health and safety for its own gain,” she said.

The lawsuit seeks to enjoin the company from further groundwater pumping it says is “excessive” and require that an abatement fund be established.

Arizona officials have been targeting Fondomonte for more than a year over its use of groundwater to grow forage crops, by not renewing or canceling the company's leases in Butler Valley in western Arizona. Some residents there had complained that the company’s pumping was threatening their wells.