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FACT BRIEF

Did Arizona lease farmland to a Saudi Arabian company at a below-market rate?

By Austin Tannenbaum
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YES

Since 2015, the Arizona State Land Department under Republican Gov. Doug Ducey has leased farmland to the Saudi Arabian company Fondomonte at a below-market rate.

Fondomonte uses the land to grow cattle feed, irrigated with the land's groundwater supply, for export to its home country. Saudi Arabia has nearly exhausted its own underground aquifers.

Fondomonte leases approximately 3,500 acres of land in Bouse, Arizona for $25 an acre annually and may pump unlimited groundwater at no extra charge. This is about one-sixth of the market price for unimproved farmland with flood irrigation today, according to Charlie Havranek, a former appraiser with 45 years experience brokering and appraising agricultural land and state leases.

Arizona is at the center of the Southwest's worst drought in 1,200 years, with cities across the state declaring water shortages. After reducing Arizona's water supply by more than 500,000 acre-feet last year, the Bureau of Reclamation announced that it will be cutting it by an additional 80,000 acre-feet in 2023.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
Arizona PBS Saudi water deal threatening water supply in Phoenix
Yahoo Finance Saudi firm has pumped Arizona groundwater for years without paying.
Nature Rapid intensification of the emerging southwestern North American megadrought in 2020–2021
NPR Arizona cities respond to the worst drought in over a thousand years with a new plan
The Arizona Republic Arizona provides sweet deal to Saudi farm to pump water from Phoenix's backup supply
Arizona's Family Arizona to lose 21% of the state’s annual allotment of Colorado River water in historic cuts
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR
Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting
The Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting is the state’s only independent, nonpartisan and collaborative nonprofit newsroom dedicated to statewide, data-driven investigative reporting. AZCIR's mission is to hold powerful people and institutions accountable by exposing injustice and systemic inequities through investigative journalism.
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About fact briefs published on Gigafact
Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.