A large hay and alfalfa farm using a mechanized overhead irrigation system that moves in a circle is seen on March 10, 2021 in Needles, California. This desert valley on the border of Arizona and Nevada uses groundwater drawn from the Colorado River to grow hay and alfalfa, much of which comes from animals from Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. It is exported as bait.Photo by George Rose/Getty Images

La Paz County, in rural Arizona on the rugged border with California, was first shocked about 10 years ago by a Saudi-owned dairy company's decision to grow alfalfa in the American Southwest for livestock in the Gulf Kingdom. . Now, as the drought worsens, new attention is being focused on whether the company and the state of Arizona should do more to protect groundwater resources.

Amid an extensive investigation by the Arizona attorney general, the state last week granted two permits allowing Almarai subsidiary Fondomonte Arizona to drill more than 1,000 feet (305 meters) below the water table and pump groundwater. Canceled. It provides 3,000 gallons (11 kiloliters) of water per minute to irrigate forage crops.

Attorney General Chris Mays said in an interview with The Associated Press that Arizona is allowing foreign companies to “put straw in our ground and use our water for free to grow alfalfa and agriculture. “Most Arizonans think it's outrageous,” he said. “Send it to Saudi Arabia. We can no longer afford to do stupid things with water in Arizona in the middle of an epic drought.”

Mays, a Democrat, said his office found inconsistencies in the permit application and asked for it to be revoked. Mays launched an investigation into Fondomonte's operations and water use last year after the Arizona Republic reported that the Arizona Department of Lands was leasing thousands of acres of farmland to Fondomonte at below-market prices. I swore that I would.

Fondomonte did not respond to multiple requests for comment from The Associated Press. Lawyers for the company have previously said the company legally leased and purchased land in the United States and spent millions of dollars on infrastructure improvements.

read more: Farmers in the arid American West face new ways to conserve water

Years of drought have gradually increased pressure on water users across the West, especially in states like Arizona that rely heavily on the declining Colorado River. The drought has also made groundwater, long used by farmers and rural residents with few restrictions, even more important to users across the state.

Saudi Arabia has struggled with water shortages over the past decade, limiting the growth of some domestic feed crops. Fondomonte's choice of Arizona to grow such crops comes as parts of the state face two consecutive years of federal water cutoffs to the Colorado River, the state's main water source. It's making people angry.

Officials from both parties have criticized foreign companies' use of the nation's water, and Gov. Katie Hobbs, also a Democrat, said in her State of the State address in January that she would investigate the practice. Hobbs said the state's groundwater “should be used to support Arizonans, not benefit foreign corporations.”

That same month, Republican state lawmakers introduced a bill that would ban the sale of federal land to foreign governments, state-owned enterprises, and companies based in China, Russia, and Saudi Arabia.

“There's a perception that water is used locally,” said Andrew Curley, a professor of geography and the environment at the University of Arizona. “When people realize that the products and benefits of this water are being exported overseas, it increases their attention.”

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, foreign entities and individuals control about 3% of U.S. farmland. Canada is the largest owner of primarily forested land. Fourteen U.S. states have restrictions on foreign individuals or entities owning agricultural land, but the restrictions vary widely and no state has an outright ban.

Fondomonte also farms in California's Palo Verde Valley, which draws water from the Colorado River. These operations have received less scrutiny. And it's not the only foreign company operating agriculture in the southwest. UAE-owned Al Dara ACX Global grows forage crops in Arizona and California and is a major North American hay exporter.

American farmers themselves export hay and other feed crops to the Middle East, primarily Saudi Arabia. China is a major export market for U.S. hay.

In Arizona, renewed attention to Fondomonte's water use is raising questions about the state's lack of regulation of groundwater pumping in rural areas of the state.

Phoenix, Tucson and other Arizona cities have limits on how much groundwater they can pump under a 1980 state law aimed at protecting the state's aquifers. But in rural areas, there are few requirements for water users other than to register their wells with the state and use the water for activities, including agriculture, that are considered “beneficial uses.”

“Frankly, I don't think they're doing their job,” Mays said of the Arizona Department of Water Resources' oversight of rural areas. The ministry declined to comment on the canceled drilling permits or the need for further groundwater regulations.

Mayes, along with hydrologists and environmentalists, has advocated for more research into groundwater basins in rural areas, such as La Paz County, an agricultural county with a population of about 16,000 people. Currently, Arizona does not measure how much groundwater users are pumping in such areas. That means there is little understanding of how much water businesses like Fondomonte and other farms use.

Almarai's farmland in the southwest is just one example of the farmland the company and its subsidiaries operate outside of Saudi Arabia. Argentina, which farms tens of thousands of acres, has also faced severe drought in recent years.

Holly Irwin, a member of the La Paz County Board of Supervisors, has long opposed Fondomonte's use of water in the county. She has been fielding complaints for years from residents about difficulty getting water from nearby wells, and she said she has repeatedly called on the state to do something about it.

“There needs to be some regulation so everything can't just be pumped out of the ground,” Irwin said.