Fondomonte and Almarai grow the alfalfa in Arizona, cut it, package it, and truck it to the port. It is then shipped back to Saudi Arabia to feed dairy cows.
LA PAZ COUNTY, Ariz. – Foreign companies pumping water from Arizona properties will no longer be able to do so, Gov. Katie Hobbs announced Monday, citing the company's default on lease agreements.
Hobbs said the state Land Office has terminated one of Fondomonte Arizona LLC's four Butler Valley leases, and the state has announced that the company's three other leases in the Valley will end in February 2024. He said that he had notified them that he would not renew the contract when it expires.
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Fondomonte is a subsidiary of Almarai, one of the largest dairy suppliers in the Middle East.
Fondomonte and Almarai grow the alfalfa in Arizona, cut it, package it, and truck it to the port. It is then shipped back to Saudi Arabia to feed Almarai's dairy cows.
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Almarai does this on farms in different locations around the world. He spends money delivering food to cows from the other side of the world. There are very specific reasons why the company does this. Growing alfalfa is illegal in Saudi Arabia.
It uses too much water.
“I am not afraid to do what my predecessors have refused to do: hold people accountable, maximize the value of the National Land Trust, and protect Arizona’s water future,” Hobbs said in a news release. . “It is unacceptable that Fondomonte continues to pump unlimited amounts of groundwater out of the state despite clearly failing to honor its lease. I am proud that we took swift action to hold users accountable and terminate these leases. And I will continue to protect Arizona's water and ensure it lasts for generations to come. We will do everything in our power to continue to grow as much as possible.”
According to a news release, Fondomonte was notified in November 2016 that it was required to cure a number of defaults under its Butler Valley lease, including “secondary containment in fuel and diesel exhaust fluid storage units. “The structure is not included,” the report said.
In mid-August of this year, an inspection found that Fondomonte had not corrected its defaults for nearly seven years. The material breach of the lease agreement reportedly gave the ministry grounds to terminate the lease agreement.
The department also determined that renewing Butler Valley's three remaining leases “would not be in the best interests of the trust beneficiaries because an excessive amount of water would be pumped from the land for free.”
Arizona Attorney General Chris Mays ran on a platform to challenge the state's lease with Fondomonte.
She called Monday's announcement “a good step in the right direction for Arizona's future.”
“I've never seen anything this bad by a state government in my life,” Mays told 12News in January.
Mays said in a statement Monday that he praised Hobbs for taking action against Fondomonte's default.
“The Arizona Attorney General's Office worked closely with Governor Hobbs' administration on these inspections and confirmed what we suspected: that Fondomonte had been in violation of its lease agreements for many years,” his statement said. It has been corroborated.” “And while today's announcement is laudable, the state government should have made the decision sooner. Failure to act sooner will require greater oversight and accountability in the management of the state's most important resources.” It highlights the need.”
Mays said he should never have signed the contract in the first place.
“The previous administration's decision to allow foreign companies to stick straws in the ground and pump unlimited groundwater to export alfalfa is scandalous,” she said.
Following the announcement, Mr. Fondomonte issued the following statement:
“While Fondomonte is reviewing the notices it received from Governor Hobbs and the Arizona Department of Lands, we believe that the State of Arizona mistakenly believes the company is in violation of its lease. We intend to work with the Chamber to highlight these factual errors. Fondomonte has complied with all terms of the lease and has done everything required under these terms.
As for other leases that the state does not plan to renew, this sets a dangerous precedent for all farmers with state land leases, including very high costs for the state and Arizona taxpayers. It will be. Fondomonte will consider all measures to ensure there is no discrimination or unfair treatment.
“We have consulted with the Governor's Office and will continue to work with Governor Hobbs and the state to resolve groundwater issues and misinformation.”
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