In La Paz County, Arizona, about two-and-a-half hours from the state capital of Phoenix, communities face an increasingly serious problem. they are running out of water.

the entire southwestern United States the worst drought After 1,200 years, the underground aquifer is considered a lifeline.But county water workers recently I got it Some wells have dried up.

At the same time, Saudi and Emirati companies that own or lease farmland in the region can pump as much water as they want. Companies that have farmed there for the past few years are facing growing concerns from communities struggling to access clean water.

“Saudi Arabia – Fondomonte is the name of the company – bought farmland in the Vicksburg area. , Holly Irwin, Mr. Paz told Middle East Eye.

“We need to know how much water is actually in these basins, because they’re pumping more water than they can put back into the ground.”

Recent reports from Arizona Republic It turns out that Fondmonte, Saudi Arabia, is paying just $25 per acre for water it uses from Arizona’s Butler Valley. That’s one-sixth the market value of the land, according to realtors in the area.

There are no specific data on how much water is pumped from the aquifer, but a report from the State Department of Lands estimates that Fondmente uses as much as 18,000 acre feet of water each year. This is enough water to supply 54,000 single-family homes. La Paz has a population of about 16,000.

According to the report, the water used by Fondmonte could be worth $3 million to $3.9 million a year, but it only pays $86,000 a year.

“We’re not quite sure why those discounts were given to them,” Irwin said.

Arizona-California farmlands within the Colorado River Basin have played an important role in the development of the agricultural sector in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Saudi subsidiary Fondmonte and Emirati company Aldara have bought thousands of acres in the southwestern United States to grow water-intensive crops, including alfalfa.

In the case of Saudi Arabia’s Fondmonte, its alfalfa is sent back to the kingdom, where it is used to feed cattle and help sustain the dairy industry.

But as companies continue to pump as much water as they want at little cost, the Southwest grapples with unique water laws that have led to unequal access.

Saudi Arabia and UAE using agricultural land abroad

By 2018, Saudi Arabia had completed a ban on alfalfa cultivation in the country, keeping crop production from putting an excessive strain on the country’s water supply. We looked to other countries, including This is because alfalfa is needed to keep the herd of dairy cows fed.

In 2012, Saudi Arabia’s Fondmonte acquired 30,000 acres of land in Argentina. Two years later they purchased 10,000 acres of land in Arizona for $47 million.

“Such disproportionate amounts of the total water resources used by humans go to alfalfa.”

– Alida Cantor, Portland State University

In 2016, it purchased 1,700 acres of land in Bryce, California, just off the Colorado River for $32 million.

And Riyadh has made its intentions clear.arab news report The transaction was “part of our ongoing efforts to ensure improvement and safety. [the company’s] We source the highest quality alfalfa hay from outside the Kingdom to support dairy operations. “

In March 2014, the newspaper reported that “this is also in line with the Saudi government’s direction to protect local resources.”

Meanwhile, according to the USDA, the UAE has almost three times as much agricultural land (46,496 acres).

Al Dahra, a UAE company, grows 30,000 acres of alfalfa, garlic and onions in Arizona and California, according to its website.

The ability of these rich Gulf countries to tap into natural resources abroad has helped benefit their own agricultural sectors.

In 2021, Saudi Arabia’s agricultural output will be $19 billion, the highest price in five years.And in the UAE, its agricultural production gain It will grow 12% from 2019 to 2020, reaching nearly $4 billion.

And their agricultural growth in other countries has no environmental cost to them.

“Production regions bear the cost of these environmental impacts, and consumers on the other side of the world are unaware of it and have no direct idea of ​​their environmental impacts,” says Eco. Paolo Dodrico, Professor of Hydrology and Water Resources, said. He told MEE at the University of California, Berkeley.

Middle East Eye reached out to Al Dahra and Fondomonte for comment on this article, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

Al Dahra told the Republic of Arizona in an article published in 2019: “The company is fully committed to Arizona and plans to stay here for the long term.”

“Fossil Aquifer”

A country’s ability to grow and produce crops using its natural resources can be very advantageous. However, the export of ‘virtual water’, the water incorporated into products such as agricultural products and crops, has a significant environmental impact on local communities.

In California and Arizona, vast fields are full of alfalfa. He is one of the main crops that Fondomonte produces on its own farm. And all the crops used for cattle feed are exported to Saudi Arabia.

Alfalfa is a crop that requires a lot of water. 2020 research found It accounts for 13% of water use in the entire continental United States and nearly 40% of water use in the Colorado River Basin.

“Alfalfa accounts for this disproportionate amount of the total water resources used by humans, and all things considered, alfalfa is a relatively low-value crop,” said Alida Cantor, a political ecologist. It doesn’t create that many jobs.” Assistant Professor at Portland State University.

“Using so many water resources stands out to me as being particularly poor,” Kanter told Middle East Eye.

And as they continue to pump water out of the aquifer, scientists worry they’re pumping at a rate they can’t replenish. and these aquifers are the last choice for water in the region, as surface water supplies are dwindling.

A 2020 report from the Arizona Department of Water Resources found that groundwater levels in the Wilcox Basin in southeastern Arizona dropped 8 feet per year in some areas from 2008 to 2018. One year from 1995 to 2015.

“Some of the aquifers will never be filled again. increase.

Regarding environmental concerns, Kanter added that the United States also needs to look to its own “virtual water” footprint abroad.

“If you want to worry about water coming from the southwestern United States and being sent to Saudi Arabia, you also have to think about the impact of goods produced elsewhere in the world brought to the United States,” she said.

U.S. Southwest Water Laws

The purchase of these water rights has sparked outrage in recent years with news headlines that Saudi Arabia has looted all of Arizona’s water supply and is threatening its water supply. We have to deal with the way rights were established.

“There are ways in which it seems that we risk getting caught up in racist discourse about who should have access to resources,” Kanter said.

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Despite the fact that 80% of the water from the Colorado River Basin is used for agriculture, recent federal regulations have been put in place to limit residential water use in the area.

In some areas of Arizona, the use of groundwater from aquifers is not fully regulated, allowing large farms to pump water with little resistance.

Irwin of La Paz County is committed to changing this and has spent the last few years working on legislation aimed at regulating the use of groundwater in her municipality.

“I have been working for years. I have been trying to work with legislators. [water usage] It’s something no one wants to talk about,” she said.

“We have worked to pass legislation that will help protect rural areas as long as groundwater is flowing.”

But the La Paz community faces an uphill battle. no bill A bill regulating groundwater has been passed by the state legislature. And amid traffic jams, Arabian Gulf-owned farms can continue to use groundwater for as long as they like, given that there are no favorable restrictions.

“This is one of the toughest issues I’ve tried to fight to protect people since I took office,” Irwin said.