A Saudi-owned agricultural company pumping the majority of groundwater from a rural Arizona basin is asking a court to put a public nuisance lawsuit on hold, and Attorney General Kris Mayes (D-AZ) isn't having it.
Fondomonte Arizona LLC, which accounts for more than 80% of all pumping in the 912-square-mile Ranegras Plain Basin, went before a Maricopa County judge Wednesday to argue that an ongoing state regulatory process should take precedence over the litigation AG Mayes filed against the company in 2024.
The company's attorneys said the Arizona Department of Water Resources is already moving to designate the basin as an active management area, a status that would restrict new pumping and reduce overall usage by half over 50 years.
Why let a lawsuit duplicate what regulators are already working toward, they argued.
Mayes' Argument
Mayes' office fired back with the simple answer that waiting does nothing.
State attorneys argued that the regulatory process wouldn't specifically target Fondomonte's pumping levels, and without a court ruling declaring the company's water use excessive, the farm could actually lock in its current pumping rates by claiming grandfathered irrigation rights.
That outcome, prosecutors said, would make the two-year regulatory wait essentially pointless.
Although the stakes extend well beyond a courtroom dispute. Residents near the Ranegras Plain Basin in La Paz and Yuma counties have reported dried-up wells, land subsidence, and ground fissures, conditions tied to years of largely unregulated groundwater extraction in rural parts of the state.
Mayes has been vocal about holding large agricultural operations accountable for those harms.
Her office recently reached a settlement with Riverview Dairy in Cochise County's Willcox Basin, where residents faced nearly identical problems.
Under that deal, the Riverview Dairy agreed to sharply reduce its water consumption and help fund the redrilling of damaged residential wells.
Following news of that settlement, Mayes made her position that “Arizonans can’t afford a Saudi mega farm sucking our groundwater dry. I’m going to do everything in my power to keep holding them accountable.”
Judge Scott Minder has not yet issued a ruling on whether to pause the Fondomonte case.
