WENDEN, Ariz. (AP) – A blanket of bright green alfalfa stretches across western Arizona's McMullen Valley, surrounded by rolling mountains and warmed by the hot desert sun.
Matthew Hancock's family has been using groundwater to grow forage crops here for more than 60 years. They have long been accustomed to the vagaries of Mother Nature, where a downpour of rain can ruin an entire alfalfa cutting, or a string of hot days can produce a particularly large yield.
But in Wenden, a town of about 700 people where the Hancock family farms, concerns have been raised about the future water supply from the valley's ancient aquifer, the source of groundwater.
Some neighbors have complained that their backyard wells have gone dry since Emirati agricultural company Al Dara began growing alfalfa on about 3,000 acres (1,214 hectares) here several years ago.
It's unclear how much water Al Dara's operations will use, but Hancock estimates it will need 15,000 to 16,000 acre-feet per year, based on the needs of his alfalfa farm. He says all the water they need is obtained by drilling hundreds of feet. One acre-foot of water is approximately enough to water two to three households in the United States for a year.
Mr. Hancock and his neighbors with large farms are raising concerns about the possibility that in the future, state officials will manage groundwater currently used for agriculture and transfer it to Phoenix and other urban areas, amid the West's worst drought in centuries. He said he was more concerned about this.
“I'm concerned about agriculture in our local communities in Arizona,” Hancock said, standing outside an open-sided barn stacked with hay bales.
Concerns about the planet's groundwater supplies are front and center in the lead-up to COP28, the annual United Nations climate change summit, which kicks off this week in the United Arab Emirates city of Dubai. Gulf countries like the UAE are particularly vulnerable to the effects of global warming, including high temperatures, dry climates, water scarcity and rising sea levels.
“Water scarcity has forced companies to go where the water is,” said Robert Glennon, a water policy and law expert and professor emeritus at the University of Arizona.
Experts believe that companies in countries facing climate change challenges, such as the United Arab Emirates, can use Arizona to free up water and land to grow products such as livestock feed and wheat for domestic use and export. They say tensions are inevitable as they increasingly seek such far-flung locations.
“As the impacts of climate change increase, we can expect to see more droughts,” said Karim Ergendi, a climate change and sustainability expert at the Chatham House think tank in London. “This means more countries will look for alternative locations for food production.”
Elgendy, who focuses on the Middle East and North Africa, said rural Arizona is particularly attractive in the absence of groundwater pumping regulations. International companies are also turning to Ethiopia and other parts of Africa, developing large-scale agricultural operations that have been criticized as “land grabbing.”
La Paz County Supervisor Holly Irwin welcomed recent crackdowns by Arizona officials on unrestricted groundwater pumping, long allowed in rural areas, where wells run dry and land subsides, causing cracks and flooding during heavy rains. pointed out concerns.
“We are starting to see the effects of the lack of regulation,” she says. “First of all, we don't know how much water is in these aquifers or how much is being pumped.”
Irwin lamented that foreign companies are “extracting our natural resources to grow crops like alfalfa, shipping them overseas and sending them back to our own countries where our water sources have dried up.”
Gary Sater, president and general manager of the Wenden Domestic Water Improvement District, said business records show that the water depth at the headquarters was just over 100 feet (30 meters) deep in the 1950s, but now it's about 30 feet (30 meters) deep. He said it was 540 feet. feet (160 meters).
In recent years, Seiter said, food crops like cantaloupe have been replaced by water-intensive feed crops like alfalfa.
“I believe the state Legislature needs to step up and actually take some control and start measuring the water that farms use,” Seiter said.
Gov. Katie Hobbs in October canceled the state's land lease for another alfalfa farm in La Paz County operated by Fondomonte Arizona, a subsidiary of Saudi dairy giant Almarai. Democrats said the state will not renew three other Fondmonte leases next year. The company breached several lease terms.
Fondomonte denied this and said it would appeal the decision to terminate its lease on 640 acres (259 hectares) in Butler Valley. Arizona is loosening its grip on Al Dahra, which leases land from a North Carolina-based private company to farm.
Glennon, the Arizona water policy expert, said he worked with a consulting group that recommended Saudi Arabia import hay and other crops rather than drain its aquifer more than a decade ago. He said Arizona must also protect its groundwater.
“I think we need smart regulation,” Glennon said. “We don’t want farms to go out of business, but we also don’t want to deplete the aquifer.”
Seeking crops for domestic use and export, Al Dara grows wheat and barley in Romania, operates a flour mill in Bulgaria, and owns dairy cows in Serbia. He runs a rice mill in Pakistan, grows grapes in Namibia and citrus fruits in Egypt. We serve markets around the world.
The company is controlled by the state-owned company ADQ, an investment holding company based in Abu Dhabi. Its chairman is Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the country's powerful behind-the-scenes national security adviser and brother of ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
The company did not respond to numerous emails and voicemails sent to its United Arab Emirates (UAE) office and its U.S. subsidiary, Al Dahra ACX, seeking comment on its Arizona operations.
However, Al Dara acknowledges the challenge of climate change on its website, noting that “arable land continues to decline and water resources available for agriculture are decreasing.” The company says it considers water and food security “core to its strategy” and uses drip irrigation to optimize water use.
Foreign and out-of-state U.S. farms are not prohibited from farming in Arizona or selling their products around the world. U.S. farmers typically export hay and other feed crops to countries such as Saudi Arabia and China.
In Cochise County, Arizona, which relies on groundwater, residents are concerned that a huge dairy farm operated there by Riverview LLP of Minnesota could deplete the water supply. The company did not respond to requests for comment on its water use.
“The question isn't who's doing it, it's whether we're allowing it,” said Kathleen Ferris, senior fellow at Arizona State University's Kill Center for Water Policy. She added: “We need to enact legislation that allows for greater control over groundwater use in these unregulated areas.”
Ferris, a former director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources, helped draft the state's 1980 Groundwater Management Act, which protects aquifers in urban areas like Phoenix but not in rural areas.
Many people mistakenly believe that groundwater is a personal property right, Ferris said, noting that the Arizona Supreme Court has ruled that property rights only exist in water that is pumped. .
In Arizona, local resistance to pump restrictions remains strong, and the Legislature has not made any progress in enacting regulations. The Arizona Department of Agriculture is pushing back against reports that paint foreign agribusiness companies like Al Dara as groundwater pirates.
Rural Arizona is the “wild west” when it comes to groundwater, said Kathryn Sorensen, research director at the Kill Center. “Whoever has the biggest well and pumps the most groundwater wins.”
Arizona is blessed with aquifers that have “very large and productive groundwater,” she added. “But just like in an oil field, if you pump water out at a significant rate, it dries up and you run out of water.”
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Associated Press writer John Gambrell in Dubai contributed to this report.
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