Arizona says no to the plundering of its water by Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia grows in Arizona what it prohibits in its own country. It is alfalfa, the plant that serves as cattle feed. Due to the high water consumption required for its cultivation, the Persian Gulf petro-monarchy decided to declare its cultivation illegal on national soil. Since 2015, Saudi companies have circumvented the ban by growing alfalfa in Arizona and then shipping it all the way to the Arabian Peninsula, more than 8,000 miles from Phoenix.

"The (Fondomonte) pumps are pumping water out of the ground that belongs to the state of Arizona," Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said in remarks to CBS News. The company Fondomonte, owned by a large Saudi conglomerate dedicated to dairy products, purchased large tracts of land from the Arizona state government in 2014. Beneath these same lands are large water reserves that feed wells in La Paz County, west of Phoenix. Local farmers and the state administration are concerned that Fondomonte will plunder these reserves until they are wiped out.

The large tracts that are covered with alfalfa plants are even visible to the satellite eye. The green squares can be seen without difficulty in the vicinity of the town of Hope, in La Paz County. There is no law in Arizona that prohibits the company, or any landowner, from taking as much water out of the ground as it wants. The state is now considering changing the law so that this is not possible and prohibiting foreign companies from following Saudi Arabia's example. "We can't afford to give our water to anyone, let alone the Saudis, for free," prosecutor Mayes assured CBS News. For now, the State managed to block the bidding of permits for two new wells on the land owned by Fondomonte, thus preventing the Saudi company from extracting some 3,000 gallons of supplementary water every minute.

Meanwhile, Arizona water is at historic lows and local farmers admit it is becoming increasingly difficult to irrigate. Some of the cattle ranchers who have their herds near the Fondomonte lands assured several local news channels that their wells are completely empty. According to the state Department of Water Resources, Fondomonte's massive water withdrawal could also have consequences on the volume of water flowing down the Colorado River.