Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego said Friday he would continue to push for a new 300 percent excise tax on water-intensive crops grown in drought-stricken regions, even as state officials announced a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s largest dairy company has stopped pumping Arizona groundwater.
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) announced Thursday that Fondomonte, which grows alfalfa for export to the Middle East, has ceased tapping an aquifer designated as a future water source for Phoenix and its suburbs to irrigate farmland it leased from the state.
“Today is the start of a new chapter for Arizona’s water future,” Hobbs said in a statement. “I’m not afraid to hold people accountable, maximize value for the state land trust, and protect Arizona’s water security.”
Hobbs announced in October that the state would not renew three leases held by Fondomonte and would terminate a fourth based on technical violations in a bid to stop the company from pumping “unchecked amounts of groundwater” to grow feed for Saudi Arabian cows.
