Arizona to limit groundwater pumping in hard-hit area

For years, the water table has been dropping beneath thousands of acres of desert farmland in western Arizona, where a Saudi dairy company has been allowed to pump unlimited amounts of groundwater to grow hay for its cows.

But the company and other area landowners will now face limits due to a decision by state officials to impose regulations.

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs said Monday that her administration is acting to “crack down on out-of-state special interests that are draining our state while Arizona families and farmers suffer.”

Fondomonte, part of Saudi dairy giant Almarai, is by far the region’s largest water consumer, using dozens of wells to irrigate the alfalfa it ships to the Middle East.

After conducting a review, the state Department of Water Resources designated the Ranegras Plain area, located 100 miles west of Phoenix, as a new “active management area” to preserve groundwater.

This is not the first time the Democratic governor and his administration have used this approach to curb excessive pumping in rural areas. In January 2025, his administration also established a new regulated area to limit agricultural pumping around the southeastern Arizona town of Willcox.

Hobbs pointed out that some residents’ wells have become dry that water levels fell in the Ranegras plain and land sank as the aquifer depleted.

“Unlike politicians of the past, I refuse to bury my head in the sand. I refuse to ignore the problems we face,” Hobbs said in his speech Monday. state address state. “We can no longer stand idly by while our rural communities are left without help. They deserve solutions and security, not another decade of inaction and uncertainty.”

The state action will prohibit landowners from irrigating additional farmland in this part of La Paz County and require those with high-capacity wells to begin reporting how much water they use. It will also lead to other changes, forming a local advisory council and requiring a plan to reduce water consumption.

State officials made the decision after receiving more than 400 public comments on the proposal, the vast majority in favor. Tom Buschatzke, director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources, made the decisionsaying the future of local residents and businesses “depends on protecting limited groundwater resources.”

Well water levels in some parts of the region have fallen more than 200 feet over the past 40 years and pumping has increased over the past decade, according to state data.

Some residents who spoke at a hearing last month said it was a mistake that Fondomonte could use the water to grow hay and export it around the world. Others said they saw no problem with having a foreign company as a neighbor, but felt farms needed to shift to less water-intensive crops.

Following the state’s announcement, Fondomonte said in a written statement that it is “committed to progressive and efficient agricultural practices,” supports the agricultural community and “has invested significantly to bring the latest water-saving technologies” to its farms. The company also said it would comply with state and local regulations.

The company is currently facing a lawsuit filed by Arizona Atty. Gen. Kris Mayes alleges that its excessive pumping violates the law by causing a decline in groundwater, land subsidence and deterioration of water quality. This lawsuit is expected to continue while the state also imposes its new regulatory limits.

Holly Irwin, a La Paz County supervisor who has advocated for years to protect the region’s water, said she was glad the state finally acted “to stop the bleeding that threatens the vitality of our community.”

“It’s a big victory,” said Irwin, a Republican. “This will prevent other mega-farms from being able to move into the region and set up the same type of operation that Fondamonte is doing right now. And it will prevent them from expanding.”

Fondomonte started its agricultural operations in Arizona in 2014. Saudi Arabia has banned the domestic cultivation of alfalfa and other feed crops because the country’s groundwater is depleted. As a result, Saudi companies are buying agricultural land abroad.

A company lawyer said owns 3,600 acres in this part of Arizona. The company also leases 3,088 acres of farmland and 3,163 acres of pasture land in the state.

Additionally, it owns 3,375 acres of California farmland near Blythe, where it uses water from the Colorado River to irrigate alfalfa fields.

Efforts to address groundwater depletion present complex challenges for communities and government agencies in Arizona, California and other Western states, where climate change is exacerbating pressures on water supplies.

Arizona’s current groundwater law, passed in 1980, limits pumping to Phoenix, Tucson and other urban areas. But those rules don’t apply to about 80 percent of the state, which has allowed large agricultural companies and investors to drill wells and pump as much as they want.

Since Hobbs took office in 2023, she has supported efforts to combat overpumping. As part of a measure aimed at limiting water consumption, it terminated the Fondomonte leases of 3,520 acres of state-owned farmland in the Butler Valley of western Arizona. This decision followed an Arizona Republic investigation which revealed that the state had granted Fondomonte discounted, below-market rental rates.

When she terminated those leases, Hobbs said Fondomonte was “recklessly pumping our groundwater to increase profits for their companies.”