PHOENIX (AP) 鈥� Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced Wednesday she's suing a for allegedly violating a public nuisance law, contending that its groundwater pumping threatens the public health, safety and infrastructure of local communities in a rural western county.
The complaint filed in Maricopa County Superior Court alleges that the pumping at a Fondomonte alfalfa farm has had widespread effects in the Ranegras Plain Basin of La Paz County, harming everyone who depends on basin water by drawing down supplies, drying up wells and causing the ground to crack and sink in some areas.
The lawsuit is the latest action by Arizona against foreign companies that use huge amounts of groundwater to grow thirsty forage crops for export because of climate challenges in other countries. Rural Arizona is especially attractive to international businesses because it has no groundwater pumping regulations.
The lawsuit alleges that since 2014, Fondomonte has extracted huge amounts that accelerated depletion of the basin鈥檚 aquifer.
The Associated Press called and emailed Fondomonte Arizona, a subsidiary of Saudi Dairy giant Almarai Co., seeking a response to the lawsuit Wednesday. Its lawyers have previously said that the company legally leased and purchased land in the U.S. and spent millions on infrastructure improvements.
across the West, particularly in states like Arizona, which relies heavily on the dwindling Colorado River. The drought has also made groundwater 鈥� long used by farmers and rural residents without restriction 鈥� even more important for users across the state.
Mayes' lawsuit alleges that Fondomonte's actions are a public nuisance under a state statute that prohibits activity that injures health, obstructs property use, or interferes with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property by a community.
Mayes called the company鈥檚 groundwater pumping 鈥渦nsustainable鈥� and said it caused 鈥渄evastating consequences鈥� for people in the area.
鈥淎rizona law is clear: no company has the right to endanger an entire community鈥檚 health and safety for its own gain,鈥� she said.
The lawsuit seeks to enjoin the company from further groundwater pumping it says is 鈥渆xcessive鈥� and require that an abatement fund be established.
Arizona officials have been targeting Fondomonte for more than a year over its use of groundwater to grow forage crops, by not renewing or canceling the company's leases in in western Arizona. Some residents there had complained that the company鈥檚 pumping was threatening their wells.
Gabriel Sandoval And Anita Snow, The Associated Press
