Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Industrial farms draining Arizona aquifers; state lawmakers try to figure out a way to help family farmers

As winter planting continues in Arizona, state officials are once again grappling with how to deal with farms' increasing demand for water in the face of drier weather and how to get that water to where it's needed, Howard Fischer reports for Capitol Media Services in Tucson.

In Arizona and other southwestern states, many farms draw water from the Colorado River, but other areas use groundwater. In many rural areas of Arizona, there is no limit to how much groundwater farmers can take. Many large industrial farms have set up shop in such areas, and they're draining aquifers at an unsustainable rate. "As the groundwater is depleted, Arizona is suffering permanent losses that may not be recouped for thousands of years," Ian James and Rob O'Dell report for the Arizona Republic. "These underground reserves that were laid down over millennia represent the only water that many rural communities can count on as the desert Southwest becomes hotter and drier with climate change."

Large farming outfits are drying up water for nearby family farmers, Fischer reports. House Minority Leader Charlene Fernandez, D-Yuma, said the state needs to see how much groundwater is being taken each year, but also said some residents didn't like the notion of metering wells, Fischer reports.

"Complicating any solution politically is the fact that one of the larger operations uses Arizona groundwater to grow hay to ship to Saudi Arabia to feed cattle there," Fischer reports. Fernandez, who has been a key player in shaping state water legislation, said there needs to be a way to distinguish between family farmers and corporate farmers whom, she believes, don't have a "vested interest" in preserving Arizona's long-term water viability.

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