Saudi-owned company stops pumping Arizona groundwater on some La Paz County leases
Gov. Katie Hobbs' office announced Thursday that Saudi Arabian-owned Fondomonte has “officially ceased pumping Arizona groundwater in the Butler Valley in western Arizona.” “As a result of a recent inspection, the state Land Office has determined that as of February 15, 2024, Fondomonte is not irrigating any leased land in the Butler Valley,” a statement […]
Hobbs cancels lease for Saudi-owned alfalfa farm in Arizona
Charlie Leight/ASU News Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs speaks in Tempe on September 28, 2023. Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs said the state would terminate its lease with a Saudi-owned company that was farming alfalfa in Arizona. The company has been criticized for growing water-intensive crops for export during the southwest's historic drought. Fondomonte Arizona LLC has […]
A Saudi-owned company is making a profit off Arizona’s water
A dry irrigation canal runs between two unplanted fields as new home construction adjoins Kelly Anderson’s dormant field in Maricopa, Arizona, Thursday, August 18, 2022. Anderson grows specialty crops for the flower industry and leases land to alfalfa farmers who grow the crop. Feed the cows at a nearby dairy farm. He knows what’s going […]
Arizona AG Kris Mayes revokes water permits for Saudi-owned farm
PHOENIX – Arizona Attorney General Chris Mays has announced that the drilling permit for a Saudi-owned Alfalfa farm in La Paz County has been revoked. Eight months ago, Fondmonte Arizona LLC approved two deep-water wells, which Mays called “unconscionable” given the state’s need to conserve water. “For too long, state leaders have been dozing off […]
State blocks wells at Saudi-owned farm in La Paz County | Local News Stories
PHOENIX — Attorney General Chris Mays has accused the Department of Water Resources of failing to do its job of protecting the state’s groundwater supply. In a letter to Tom Busschacke published Friday, Mays said the government agency he led has implemented a new “active management policy” since 1980, in which legal limits have been […]
Brookings Register | In Arizona, fresh scrutiny of Saudi-owned farm’s water use
This image shows the Almarai logo in Cairo, Egypt. Fondomonte Arizona, a subsidiary of Almarai Co., has been growing alfalfa in the American Southwest for about 10 years and is shipped to the Gulf Kingdom where it feeds cattle. Arizona has canceled a pair of drilling permits that allowed Fondmonte to pump up to 3,000 […]
In Arizona, fresh scrutiny of Saudi-owned farm’s water use
Washington – In La Paz County, Arizona, on the rugged border with California, a Saudi-owned dairy company’s decision to grow alfalfa in the American Southwest for livestock in the Gulf Kingdom first raised eyebrows almost a decade ago. I hid. now, Drought getting worse is giving the company renewed attention to whether Arizona should do […]
Saudi-owned farm in La Paz County denied plan for new wells – Parker Live
Arizona has rejected plans for two new deepwater wells requested by a La Paz county agricultural business owned by a Saudi dairy company. Fondmonte, Arizona, already pumps enough groundwater to irrigate thousands of acres near Vicksburg, a 46-mile drive from Parker, where alfalfa is grown to feed dairy cattle. We are exporting to Saudi Arabia. […]
Saudi-owned Fondomonte can’t drill 2 new wells in Arizona, state says
A private company farming alfalfa in Arizona’s Butler Valley has been unable to drill two additional wells on state land there, a political flashpoint in drought-hit Arizona. and may reduce the use of groundwater. Democratic Arizona Attorney General Chris Mays said Friday that the drilling permit for the Saudi-owned company Fondmonte had been revoked, after […]
