NPR

This is the indicator from Planet Money.

I'm Darien Woods.

In December, Arizona's Attorney General Chris Mays held a press conference announcing a lawsuit against

Fondermonte, a company that grows alfalfa in the state.

She called its pumping of underground water excessive.

Excessive is debwatering nearby wells.

Excessive is causing subsidence in a way that potentially damages infrastructure. Excessive is pumping so much

water that it damages the quality of the water that remains.

And where this lawsuit may stand out is Fondamonte's ties to the royal family of Saudi Arabia.

Zach Ziegler has been following the story for NPR member station AZPM in Tucson and water in general in the southwest for the podcast tapped.

Welcome, Zach.

Hey, thanks for having me, Darien.

As you know, this is all playing out in La Paz

County. It's a rural area, like fewer than five people per square mile rural, with massive

groundwater basins underneath it. Right, so given that, you'd think the community would be

flush with water. But residents there have been complaining about their wells going dry for

some time now,

and that is leaving them with the choice to spend tens of thousands to dig deeper for their water

or find a new home. Yeah, and the issue goes deeper than alfalfa farming. A New York-based

private equity firm may also be part of it.

So today on the indicator, what is behind these water tensions in rural Arizona?

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