The company also owns land in Pinal County. In Iowa, meanwhile, the water utility for the city of Des Moines is facing a threat to its existence because it picked a regulatory fight with the state's farmers. They struggled to make money and eventually left. “They are just going to suck it dry and then be gone.”. MN Pollution Control Agency/Flickr Combined, the seven companies own, farm or control more than 130,000 acres across the state. Cobb, the Kingman legislator, said she expects large industrial farms to make profits and pull up stakes after all the water is used up. The company would only respond to questions in writing and didn't answer many of The Republic's questions. “They really couldn’t make any money growing alfalfa,” he said. If the property value appreciates, both parties can make even more, he said. “There’s no protection for this valley for water,” Goodman said. That’s brought companies from California, Las Vegas, Minnesota, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to rural areas throughout the state seeking to exploit Arizona’s underground resource. Growing crops that are appropriate to the region’s climate is another way … With no power lines to the area, the company had to use diesel generators. Cobb has been trying to pass water legislation for five years. While Fondomonte’s operation "only makes up less than 3 percent of Arizona’s total alfalfa production, it is really meaningful for the company and the millions of people who rely on their dairy products," Rose wrote. They also have the capacity to pump water to considerable heights. Some grow hay. "New crops that are less water-intensive and higher value such as hemp and baby potatoes are being produced," the company said in an emailed statement. La Paz County residents read that as: They want to conserve their resources by using ours. More than 90 of these wells are drilled to depths of more than 1,000 feet. Well monitoring data is limited by voluntary participation and infrequent readings. 9. As long as you get a permit, you can drill a well of any size for any purpose as long as it’s for a beneficial use. Two of the biggest such companies are International Farming Corporation, known as IFC, an asset manager based in North Carolina, and Integrated Ag, a private equity fund headquartered in Scottsdale. Cotton is a desert plant that is water efficient and suits Australia’s climate. 1 forage exporter in the United States.”. He said much of the money to develop Arizona farmland is coming from East Coast investment funds interested in purchasing farmland for the money it will bring in, especially given low interest rates. She said this is why she is “obsessed” with doing something about out-of-state agribusiness using up Arizona’s precious resources to profit. Rose said the company has spent $152 million in Arizona and employs 178 people. IFC declined to comment, citing a policy of not disclosing non-public information. His wife, Trixie Skousen, said she fully expects their corporate neighbors will squeeze what they can out of their investments and then leave once there is no more money to be made. Skousen estimated more than 30 wells have been drilled recently, adding, “nothing is protecting our water.”, “I think if they turned all those 30 wells on, our water table would drop, and our water would be expensive, and we would have less water. Now let’s see the drill in action… Requirements of Farm. Across the Midwest, he says, nitrate-filled water from farm fields is making drinking water less safe. The company also runs three hay pressing facilities in Arizona, California and Washington. Hay prices were high when Rhodes started his project but five years later the prices had dropped. Grass strips alongside streams, like this one in the Lac qui Parle River watershed of Minnesota, can help to reduce fertilizer runoff from fields. Al Dahra sells hay in the U.S. and exports to countries across Asia and the Middle East. The same is true for groundwater in aquifers deep in the soil. Cobb, a Republican representative from Kingman, said the Peacock Nuts operation is "mining our water." PTEs include elements such as zinc, cadmium, mercury, chro… "The point is, there needs to be a list.". They can plant "cover crops," making sure that there's always vegetation on their fields to capture nitrates before that pollution runs into streams. The pivots were once the property of Kingman Farms, an entity owned by Las Vegas housing developer Jim Rhodes. "And in some years, annual farmers who grow rice or cotton can make a lot more money leasing their water to people with permanent crops, and they can go on a holiday for a year." But these massive irrigation systems don’t sit astride deep green circles of alfalfa. Nearby residents are calling for the state to stop issuing well permits because their wells are going dry. Yet the people responsible for that pollution, America's farmers, are fighting any hint of regulation to prevent it. Mohave County Supervisor Gary Watson said Rhodes and other investors essentially bought up most of the private properties they could in the Red Lake area to get the water underneath them. The Arizona Republic identified major agricultural water users through interviews with residents, growers and public officials across the state, through property records and well data. Cox, though, says the time has come to lay out a list of things that farmers are required to do to protect the environment. But you can export virtual water.”. It owns and leases enough land to cultivate as much as 44,000 tons of hay per year. The pivots look as out of place as the green alfalfa once did next to the red dirt from the dry saline lake. It also owns land it rents out in Hyder, which is north of Interstate 8 between Gila Bend and Yuma. Phosphorus runoff is feeding toxic algae blooms in rivers and lakes, "interfering with people's vacations. "I can only look at the current rates of use," Buschatzke said. “The term I heard a lot of years ago was virtual water,” said Marvin Glotfelty, a groundwater expert and consultant. They can send the water from underground drainage pipes into wetlands rather than straight into streams. "We chose this area because of its great growing conditions and abundant sustainable water.". His arrival in 2012 triggered Mohave County’s concerns about its dwindling groundwater. The operation was set up quickly. "We could and should argue about ... what should be on that list," he says. For more information on P P C, please visit I S O Mitigation or contact your Farmers agent . It owns an estimated 9,200 acres in both Yuma and Maricopa counties around Hyder, one of Arizona’s new frontiers for industrial farming operations. Several companies behind the project went bankrupt and the pivots were left in the desert to rust. It also includes plantations, ranches, ranges, and orchards and groves. Modules can provide farmers the ability to grow shade-tolerant crops and to diversify crop selection, while also extending growing seasons and reducing water requirements. Surface water source would invoke other Non Drinking Water regulations. "It has been pretty much a free-for-all," Wulf said. How is this possible? The huts are arranged in rows that are longer than football fields. Mark Skousen, who runs a second-generation family farm in Hyder, is concerned about the surge of well-drilling since Integrated Ag and IFC arrived in the valley. The rush to drill has also brought in investment firms that prepare the land for farming, drill wells and either rent out the land or sell it. Natural Watercourses 3. The company said it uses state-of-the-art water systems, including "sub-surface drip irrigation" and soil moisture probes that help pinpoint the amount of water applied to crops. “It’s still water extraction for farming,” she said. Bill Stowe isn't buying Klein's explanation. Riverview offered to contribute money toward a new water system being proposed for the residents close to its farm, Wulf said. After coming together in December 2018, the group bought nearly 7,500 acres east of the Kingman Airport. Al Dahra said it has about 170 employees in Arizona. For instance, farm groups campaigned against the Clean Water Rule, issued by the Obama administration. Integrated Ag was created in 2012 and is headquartered in Scottsdale. Once, it farmed thousands of acres of alfalfa and other crops by using towering center-pivot irrigation systems that created circular green islands in the brown desert on the way out to Red Lake. He said drip irrigation is also good for organic farming and the company tries to keep its farming organic whenever possible. Rhodes declined to comment when reached by phone. It defines what streams or wetlands are considered waters of the U.S., and thus covered by the Clean Water Act. "This is clearly aimed at chilling our litigation and sending a message to others that no one dare speak against industrial agriculture in this state," he says. Some can draw water from nearly half a mile below ground. Access to the farm is strictly limited, with visitors required to go through security. And a proposal by the department to look at future water use when creating new INAs could not even get a sponsor from the Legislature. “You can do that with what you generate as a product of the water,” Glotfelty said. Now she sees some of the alfalfa farms struggling. Top 10 Common Law Drainage Problems Between Rural Neighbours As elected officials fail to act, large farms continue to flee regulation elsewhere and find land and free groundwater in rural Arizona. I told the farmer, when addressing his ego, that at his age he had a chance to retire by cutting back and getting rid of debt. There will always be somebody who will talk about the way you … A group of California farmers did the unexpected this year: They beat their water conservation goals. "Water resources in Arizona must be managed wisely in order to preserve our quality of life and to protect the state’s economic health," Al Dahra said. Fondomonte would only respond to questions in writing, but its representative, Jordan Rose, said the company owns 3,600 acres in Vicksburg and leases another 6,200. IFC came into La Paz County in 2012 when it outbid several other firms to buy nearly 13,000 acres from the city of Phoenix for $30 million during the last economic downturn. Farms from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates doing just that have angered residents in the La Paz County communities of Vicksburg, Salome and Wenden. Some of the water used by each of these sectors returns to rivers and groundwater basins where it can be used again. He said the company has reduced water usage by 25 percent since it purchased the land. “From the get-go they wanted to do things right,” Tackett-Hicks said. “They come in with a big idea and sell to their investors, the investors put money in it, then they lose everything and they move on,” she said. “The threat is constantly going to be there,” Watson said. Sludge is also an effective soil conditioner, as it is a good source of organic matter. Life insurance issued by Farmers New World Life Insurance Company, a Washington domestic company: 3120 139 th Ave. But the water pumped by commercial farms has helped dry up wells owned by residents, who worry for their future. In a pilot study, growers using the California Irrigation Management Information System (CIMIS) reduced their water use by 13 percent while increasing their yields by 8 percent. “These funds are buying up farm ground,” Hancock said, adding that farm real estate is seen as a good investment. Today 50,000 fewer gallons of water are needed to grow an acre of corn in the U.S., compared to 20 years ago. They say that cooperative, voluntary programs will achieve more than regulation. But she said she is scared by the sheer amount of water being pumped out. "We were taking an already approved project that had failed and we're using the water for ag purposes now," Tackett-Hicks said. Farms consume about 80 percent of the state’s water supply, and use it to grow half of the fruits and veggies that are produced in the United States. Cotton is the crop of choice as it gives growers the best return per megalitre of water. Groundwater studies by state and federal scientists have shown a dramatic increase in pumping since the agricultural businesses arrived. The drill allows farmers to plant the seeds in well-spaced rows, at specific depths, and at a specific rate. So it’s just scary. There are things that can be done to help farmers reduce water use. Kingman Mayor Jen Miles said orchard crops like pistachios also use much less water than alfalfa, which was planted on other farms north of Kingman. The pistachio trees will eventually extend to the base of the Peacock Mountains. In 2015, Agri Investor reported that the company had a pipeline of about $200 million of investments and was planning to create a new $250 million fund to invest in distressed real estate in Arizona and Nevada. She’s seen new industrial wells appear off of Highway 60, along with two large irrigation ponds, which they’ve heard can hold 25 million gallons each. Peacock was more open than other farms in sharing information. You think you’re set here for life. The Clean Water Act, which has cleaned up pollution from factories over the past 40 years, specifically exempts what it calls "normal farming practices" like plowing or maintaining drainage ditches. Miles said she appreciated that Peacock is trying to use conservation measures like drip irrigation, but she said she’s still concerned that the expansion of agriculture in Kingman could deplete water the town relies on. Michael Timony, a partner in Integrated Ag, said the company has invested $90 million in farmland and irrigation improvements in Arizona. "We're using what was already allocated.". “We don’t have the rules in place to prevent that from happening.”. All have at least one thing in common: They take as much water as they want, with no limits. The bill would replace the water works with a regional water authority, which might drop the lawsuit. In recent years, farmers have fought any hint of stricter regulation. The company has at least 81 wells, and 34 of those are deeper than 1,000 feet. Drought-Tolerant Crops. Many farmers also need water to engage in the cultivation of livestock and other animals. Rose said that agriculture has always been a global industry and the percentage of alfalfa grown in Arizona that is not exported somewhere outside of the state is minuscule. ProPublica's “Killing the Colorado” series examines a 139-year-old water law that pushes ranchers to use as much water as they … And we could farm less,” he said. Through a company called Red Lake Ventures, the company owns 16,000 acres, though it is now farming only a fraction of that. Bill Stowe, CEO of the Des Moines Water Works, says that "we're trying to regulate what comes out of the underground drainage systems beneath farm fields and empties into the waters of the state.". That's what the law says. “These aren’t local farmers. Kathleen Tackett-Hicks, spokeswoman for the group, said Peacock Nuts plans to farm a maximum of 4,500 acres. Returning to the area 10 months later, she was shocked that the high desert landscape of creosote and cholla was now a 850-acre pistachio farm where more than 125,000 saplings had been planted. “If the damn state, pardon my French, and the county do not stop handing out commercial well permits like your Christmas candy, us homeowners are going to be screwed,” she said. In Arizona, Al Dahra operates in three of the corporate agricultural hotspots — it leases about 3,000 acres in Wenden from IFC and an estimated 2,000 acres in Hyder, and it owns what was once a massive farm north of Kingman in the Red Lake area. By analyzing more than 250,000 well-drilling records, more than 30,000 well-depth records and property records in 10 Arizona counties, The Republic compiled a list of large out-of-state companies that could be — or have been — some of the largest water takers in the state. Studies show that by using drip irrigation, farmers can conserve up to 60% of the water that it would normally take to irrigate their crops using other systems of irrigation. ", Peggy Judd, a Cochise County supervisor, is a huge proponent of farming in the Willcox area, particularly the Riverview dairy. Use this publication as a guide to figure your taxes and complete your farm tax return. Peacock Nuts also didn’t bulldoze a natural wash on the property, instead electing to allow it to flow through the property and serve as a wildlife corridor, which Tackett-Hicks called unique for an agriculture project. Agriculture easily qualifies, even if the crops are shipped out of state for profit. And so I don't have the ability to project out what might happen 50, 100 years from now.". Look hard and you can see the pivots marooned in the desert like a shipwreck. It wouldn't take much to have a big impact — if farmers could boost water efficiency by just 4 percent, that would increase the amount of water for cities and businesses by 50 percent. Tackett-Hicks touted the water-saving technology on the property, including double drip line irrigation with emitter clips to save water, along with moisture sensors throughout the property to determine the best times to water. Farmers with a water licence can use the water they extract to grow whatever they like. Introduction 2. She said the farms don’t care about Arizona or the Hyder community. A farm includes livestock, dairy, poultry, fish, fruit, and truck farms. Some grow nuts. Duarte is managing the farming and provided all the pistachio trees, she said. She said concerns about water use are overblown because the property had already been approved by Mohave County for a housing project and was given a 100-year assured water supply of 13,000 acre-feet annually by the state. [They're] taking their kids to the beach and the beach is closed. This is preventable, Cox says. "The Hyder area can support row crops, produce and permanent crops," he said. She had driven up the dusty rural road to store a bighorn sheep she killed on a hunt. Farmers can take simple steps to reduce the problems dramatically. And the large corporate farms are all new arrivals, coming to Arizona since 2012. Larry Hancock, the owner of LKH Farming, rents about 2,500 acres of farmland in the Wenden area from IFC. With farmers applying less water thanks to conservation efforts, “they’ll be recharging less groundwater,” Runsten explained, “which means that we’ll have to do that consciously.” That may mean selectively flooding fields with surface water during the winter or in wet years, allowing more to filter down into the underground reservoirs. “I told my husband I want to move. Still, despite these benefits, farmers use CIMIS data on only 5 percent of irrigated cropland in California, the U.S.’s leading agricultural state. There's stories about people getting sick.". Large open-sided metal structures house thousands of stacks of hay and there are more structures than one can count. Alfalfa is the thirstiest crop grown in western Colorado, consuming as much as 3 acre-feet of water per acre of crop each year. Best Management Practices help to put the farm’s resources into perspective and help the farmer visualize how those resources can be used best on the farm. They possess the right to use it. Grass strips alongside streams, like this one in the Lac qui Parle River watershed of Minnesota, can help to reduce fertilizer runoff from fields. She said the companies didn’t invest millions of dollars into the area “in order to fail.”, “They don’t intend to ever leave,” Judd said. 1. They can plant wide, grassy "filter strips" along stream banks. "It's a horrible, horrible rule," he said. It takes about 26 gallons of water to produce one ear of corn while it takes about 2000-2500 gallons of water … As a former business owner, Miller said she can see both sides of the issue. All she has managed to get is a study of groundwater conditions in Mohave and La Paz counties. One study found that shading from solar modules produced lettuce crop weight equal to or greater than lettuce grown in full sun. A federal study showed that in 2011 groundwater pumping in the Hualapai Basin surrounding Kingman exceeded the rate of recharge by 5,600 acre-feet annually. Vegetable Landscaping. Statewide, average water use is roughly 50% environmental, 40% agricultural, and 10% urban, although the percentage of water use by sector varies dramatically across regions and between wet and dry years. “It’s not legal to export groundwater or surface water out of the state. Many farm groups say they are working hard to reduce pollution caused by runoff from farms. Tom Buschatzke, director of the state's Department of Water Resources, said the law prevents him from acting. “It boggles the mind how many trees are out here.”. It can be caused by not receiving rain or snow over a period of time. It is the soil that absorbs, transmits and holds the water for crops to use and there is much a farmer can do to manipulate the nature of soil, and is especially helpful if the soil quality is compromised. Along each row of waist-high saplings, long black irrigation tubes stretched out to connect the seemingly endless trees and nourish them with water. Two years ago, the utility sued several nearby counties, demanding that they reduce nitrate levels in the water that flows from farm drainage systems into the Racoon River, which supplies drinking water to Des Moines. Crop … They use different strategies to protect themselves financially from unpredictable changes in the markets. Categories of water use The Act, under section 21, makes provision for 11 categories of water use, of which the following three are directly applicable to the farmer and important to a valuer: Taking water from a source This registration shows the actual water in cubic metres per annum that the user can take from a source to use for irrigation. The giant silver center pivot systems can be hard to spot from the road amid the scrub desert. Cobb said she wants the Legislature to create new rural management districts, which could enact new regulations to limit well drilling and groundwater extraction, tailored for the unique characteristics of each rural area. All have at least one thing in common: They take as much water as they want, with no limits. The company is the fifth largest employer in La Paz County, Rose said, and 102 of its employees live in company housing. It is one step but much more progress is needed. Years ago investors bought land and planted jojoba, an ingredient in many skin lotions, shampoos and lipsticks. "It's the biggest water grab in Australia's history," one farmer in the ABC program said. "The leading problems are driven by fertilizer and manure runoff from farm operations," says Cox, who is the Environmental Working Group's top expert on agriculture. The water wars have begun. They include private-equity firms, investment funds focused on agriculture, and foreign food companies, mirroring the nationwide trend of big capital driving the ag industry and leading to larger farms. Rhodes, who once hoped to build tens of thousands of new homes in parts of Mohave County, began blading desert, drilling wells and installing center pivots to farm hay and other crops for export. "There could be some things to be gained by having water regulated across the state. SE, Ste. The company also leases property in Butler Valley, she said. Cobb wants to change that and have the state approve an emergency “irrigation non expansion” area for Kingman to limit any new agricultural wells from being drilled. Mary Goodman lives to the southwest of Al Dahra’s fields in Wenden that are rented from IFC. Farmers must be especially intuitive when rainfall levels do not meet the desired or necessary quota for a particular season. With tens of thousands of cattle and the company insisting on growing all of the food on its land, "you are talking a lot of water,” she said. I want to sell, that’s it.”. But that won’t stop the pumping of the aquifer. We learned in the discussions about the water cycle and weather that changes in the wind patterns that move clouds and moisture through the atmosphere can cause a place to not receive its normal amount of rain or snow over a long period of time.. Its deepest well is nearly 2,500 feet deep. It is impossible to know how much water large farms are taking. Throughout much of history, farmers have relied on draft animals to perform much of the heavy labor in the fields. Though not all of that land is irrigated, if it were, it would equal nearly 15 percent of the harvested cropland in Arizona, as tallied by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Livestock. These emerald green circles can easily be seen from above or in satellite images. “There’s no way we have enough water to be able to handle that,” Cobb said. The big trucks vary in what kind of mileage they get because most farm trucks are pulling heavy loads. Peacock Nuts, a consortium that includes the largest permanent crop nursery in the United States, has even bigger plans: 4,500 acres and as many as 650,000 pistachio trees. With more than 37,000 acres in the Willcox area, Riverview LLP, a Minnesota dairy, may be the largest corporate farmer in the state and the farm with the most wells. In Kingman, as in most of rural Arizona, there are no rules on groundwater pumping. The way environmentalist Craig Cox sees it, streams and rivers across much of the country are suffering from the side effects of growing our food. “You almost feel helpless because we can’t get anything passed legislatively,” Cobb said, because legislators are scared regulation in one area will spread to other areas. “We must look at ways to make sure the expansion of agriculture is not going to be so fast it just depletes our aquifers.”. Total coliform, nitrate testing most likely. They can send the water from underground drainage pipes into wetlands rather than straight into streams. Jarad Klein, the bill's sponsor, denies that he's trying to get rid of the water works because of that lawsuit; he says he has heard a variety of concerns about the utility's management. Driving Stockton Hill Road north out of Kingman, the road drops down to the desert floor. “Fondomonte being a foreign company that is here taking our water, that doesn't rub well … with the residents that are out here,” said Holly Irwin, the La Paz County supervisor who represents the area. Strips '' along stream banks the farm from a reliable source, either dam or bore any! The southwest of al Dahra said some of the aquifer trucks so they can send water... Are fighting any hint of regulation to prevent that from happening. ” than straight streams! Land it rents out in Hyder, which is north of their home during the three... Glotfelty, a Washington domestic company: 3120 139 th Ave keep its organic! Fully committed to Arizona and employs 178 people or snow over a of. Was more open than other can farmers use as much water as they want in sharing information major deal for this County ''. 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