Arizona to cancel leases allowing Saudi-owned farm access to state’s groundwater

By SUMAN NAISHADHAM
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Arizona governor Katie Hobbs said this week her administration is terminating land leases that for years have given a Saudi-owned farm nearly unfettered access to groundwater in the parched southwestern state. On Monday, Hobbs said the state had canceled Fondomonte Arizona’s lease in western Arizona’s Butler Valley and would not renew three leases up for renewal next year. An investigation by the governor’s office found the farm had violated some of its lease terms. Fondomonte Arizona, a subsidiary of Saudi dairy giant Almarai Co., grows alfalfa in Arizona to feed livestock in the water-stressed Gulf kingdom.