The wells would have helped irrigate farms where Fondomonte grows alfalfa for export to Saudi Arabia to feed dairy cattle.

Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities


** Arizona revokes water well drilling permits for Saudi-owned farm
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Tuesday, April 25, 2023
An alfalfa farm in Arizona, Chris English, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons ([link removed])

Last week, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced that the state has revoked permits for a Saudi company to drill two new water wells on state land. According to Mayes ([link removed]) , her office discovered inconsistencies in applications for new wells submitted by Fondomonte, a company owned by one of Saudi Arabia's largest dairy farms ([link removed]) , and approved by state regulators last August. Following this discovery, the permits were revoked ([link removed]) a week prior to Mayes's announcement.

The wells would have pumped 3,000 gallons of groundwater per minute ([link removed]) to irrigate existing farms on land leased from the Arizona State Land Department ([link removed]) , where Fondomonte currently grows alfalfa for export to Saudi Arabia to feed dairy cattle there. According to the terms of the lease, Fondomonte would not have had to pay for the water. "There's nothing to say except, that's insane," Mayes said ([link removed]) .

The Center for Western Priorities' podcast The Landscape explored this issue in a recent episode ([link removed]) with author and professor Natalie Koch, whose new book—Arid Empire: The Entangled Fates of Arizona and Arabia ([link removed]) —explores the ways in which Arizona and Saudi Arabia have worked together to promote desert agriculture, and how that work is connected to a global obsession with engineering our way out of ecosystem collapse.


** The River of Sorrows film tour kicks off this week
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See one of Colorado’s last, best wild places up close at a premiere showing of The River of Sorrows on the Colorado film tour starting on Wednesday. The film follows two packrafters down the near-dry Dolores River ([link removed]) , telling the complex story of the river and the public lands that surround it. View details and RSVP here ([link removed]) for the first showing on Wednesday April 26th in Boulder, Colorado or another upcoming event.
Quick hits


** Supreme Court rejects oil companies' appeals in climate lawsuits
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NBC News ([link removed]) | Associated Press ([link removed])


** Water pollution lawsuit could limit Forest Service's use of fire retardant
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Gizmodo ([link removed]) | Associated Press ([link removed])


** Study: New Mexico lags in protected public land
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Carlsbad Current-Argus ([link removed])


** Federal court affirms Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument expansion
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Jefferson Public Radio ([link removed])


** Free, prior and informed consent takes on renewed urgency for Indigenous communities
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High Country News ([link removed])


** High-flow experiment at Grand Canyon aims to help Colorado River
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Arizona Republic ([link removed])


** I-90 fence project worries biologists
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Missoulian ([link removed])


** Many young voters frustrated by Biden's Willow decision
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New York Times ([link removed])
Quote of the day
” It's outrageous and frankly unacceptable that the state would even consider granting new wells to allow the Saudis to pump millions of gallons of water to grow more alfalfa for their cows.”
—Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, Arizona Republic ([link removed])
Picture this


** @yellowstonenps ([link removed])
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Pro tip: bring water when watching the northern lights. Your mouth tends to get dry when jaw is on the floor.

A severe G4-class geomagnetic storm that sparked auroras on April 23-24 is subsiding. At the storm's apex, auroras were sighted or photographed in more than 30 US states. #Aurora ([link removed]) at lower latitudes is not common, but they do make an appearance a few times each year in #Yellowstone ([link removed]) . Did you see them where you are?

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