A Saudi-owned company is making a profit off Arizona’s water

LA PAZ COUNTY, Ariz. (NewsNation) — A rancher of 40 years says he’s running out of water because of Saudi Arabia. But he isn’t blaming the company that moved next door to him; he’s blaming the state of Arizona for allowing the Saudis to use the precious resource unchecked.

“Well, it’s not going to help America much if other nations have the right to our natural resources,” said rancher Boyce Andersen.

Residents of Arizona’s rural La Paz County, like Andersen, know all too well their water is a finite resource, especially during the state’s drought. Some residents see water flowing freely — unchecked in most parts of the state — while some communities are sitting on dry, empty wells.

At least two foreign-owned companies are using the land for a crop that needs a lot of water to survive: Al Dahra, which is based in the United Arab Emirates, and Fondomonte, the Saudi-owned company.

The crop uses so much water that Saudi Arabia banned it from being grown there, which is why Fondomonte is growing the crop on acquired land in Arizona.

For nearly a decade, Fondomonte Arizona, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia-based Almarai Co., has been growing alfalfa — one of the most water-intensive crops — for livestock in the Gulf kingdom on land it purchased in La Paz County.

The company is estimated to use enough water for more than 50,000 homes on the state-owned land.

“I stand in the middle of the fence because on one hand, I understand my constituents, taxpayers, property owners. They buy their land, and they want to do whatever they want with their land. Okay. But then you have business farms, who also have the same right,” said La Paz County Assessor Anna Camacho.

The issue of water rights has been fraught with controversy for decades. The belief in La Paz county is clear: Our land, our water.

Many are worried about what tomorrow holds as they watch this valuable resource start to disappear — and in many cases — literally leave the country.

The controversy over foreign-owned companies tapping into Arizona’s water supply is not so simple, and not everyone is against Fondomonte.

“It’s been a good citizen in the community,” said Gary Saiter, head of the Wenden Water Improvement District. “These are rural, small communities. And that’s what you need to do. If you want to be a friend, then the community will embrace you. If you don’t, the community will not embrace you. And I’m not sure you want to live in a community where everybody hates you.”

Andersen feels similarly and says Fondomonte is allowing him to use some of their water to feed his livestock. He believes the state of Arizona needs to protect local farmers and implement checks and balances to keep international conglomerates from snapping up U.S. farmland.

“Going forward, we need to stop any land sales to foreign countries,” said Andersen. “Number one, that’s the solution. That would be and we need to have the people in the government that would make sure that sort of thing happens.”

Foreign-owned companies aren’t just scooping up land in Arizona.

A report from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) shows Chinese companies own nearly 400,000 acres of American soil. However, China is not in the top ten of foreign entities who own land in the U.S.

While the U.S. economy largely benefits from its international trading partners, some worry property in the wrong hands could pose a risk to the supply chain and even national security.

“I think the military bases and agricultural land is some of the major concerns of people buying up a lot of the land. We’ve had a lot of those conversations and we’re going to continue to look at that for the next session,” said Texas Rep. Tim Dunn.

Last month, Rep. Beth Van Duyne, also of Texas, introduced the Protecting American Farmland Act, which proponents claim will prevent foreign adversaries from purchasing American farm and ranch land through a 60% excise tax paid by the buyer.