(Disclosure: Rose Law Group represents Fondomonte.)
By Kiera Riley | State Affairs
The Attorney General’s Office and Fondomonte Arizona have hit an impasse in setting a litigation schedule for the state’s ongoing public nuisance claim against the company.
In late 2024, Attorney General Kris Mayes sued Fondomonte, a Saudi-owned alfalfa farm operating in the Ranegras Plain Basin in La Paz County, claiming the company’s groundwater pumping has led to dry wells, land subsidence and worsening water quality.
But mid-litigation, the Arizona Department of Water Resources enacted an Active Management Area in the Ranegras Plain, putting in motion a two-year tract to study and regulate groundwater usage in the basin.
Judge Scott Minder previously ordered the parties to arrange a schedule with the AMA process in mind. But, as of the deadline, the state and Fondomonte failed to come to an agreement.
Briana Campbell, attorney for Fondomonte, argues the state fails to fully account for the AMA process.
“Unfortunately, the State’s arguments focus on mud-slinging and finger-pointing, rather than productively addressing the demands of a challenging case involving parallel administrative proceedings, technical environmental issues, and millions of client documents.”
