Saudis siphoning Arizona Water (Phoenix: mineral rights, 2015, buying)

[azriverfan.]

Did you read this article in the Arizona Republic? Pretty fascinating

A Saudi Arabian dairy company called Almarai purchased a large farm about 90 miles from Phoenix and has planted thousands of acres of alfalfa to make hay. It then ships the hay to Saudi Arabia to feed its cows.“They (Almarai) got about 15 water wells when they purchased the property," Halverson said. "Now, each one of those wells can pump about 1.5 billion gallons of water. It’s an incredible amount of water they’re going to be drawing up from that aquifer underground."

Montini: Saudis are siphoning Arizona water to make hay

I can't believe more Arizona residents are not infuriated by this. We talk so passionately about water conservation in this state yet we are billions of gallons of water away for hay to feed Saudi cows.

[LordBalfor]

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

Did you read this article in the Arizona Republic? Pretty fascinating

A Saudi Arabian dairy company called Almarai purchased a large farm about 90 miles from Phoenix and has planted thousands of acres of alfalfa to make hay. It then ships the hay to Saudi Arabia to feed its cows.“They (Almarai) got about 15 water wells when they purchased the property," Halverson said. "Now, each one of those wells can pump about 1.5 billion gallons of water. It’s an incredible amount of water they’re going to be drawing up from that aquifer underground."

Montini: Saudis are siphoning Arizona water to make hay

I can't believe more Arizona residents are not infuriated by this. We talk so passionately about water conservation in this state yet we are billions of gallons of water away for hay to feed Saudi cows.

*YAWN*


Pointless Muslim bashing.

Ken

[ScottsdaleMark]

It's not any more upsetting to me than any of the thousand of farms that are doing or have the right do do the exact same thing. These are not the only people in the state or the West who are growing alfalfa or other animal feed.

Yes, it's a nice example when it's foreigners who famously ran through their groundwater in a matter of decades, come and essentially purchase ours ... but the real issue to me is, we are letting our groundwater resources be exploited too cheaply.

Does this mean that land prices will rise based on the value of their water rights? Perhaps they should. If you own the right to pump 22.5 billion gallons of water...well, that better have been land that was commensurately priced. And if it wasn't, then that is a market inefficiency. Mineral rights are highly valued in oil producing regions; so too should water rights be fairly valued here.

Let's hope this wakes us up. Just like the farmers in Imperial County who fallowed their fields because it made better economic sense to sell their water rights to San Diego, that time is coming here in Arizona and that isn't necessarily a negative. Water is a resource like any other and it needs to be fairly valued and regulated like minerals, timber, and so forth.

[ajonesaz]

How is that cost efficient? Hay is heavy and expensive, I can't imagine being able to turn any kind of profit shipping it around the world.

[ScottsdaleMark]

Originally Posted by ajonesaz

How is that cost efficient? Hay is heavy and expensive, I can't imagine being able to turn any kind of profit shipping it around the world.

My understanding is that for certain countries that export a lot, they routinely have empty or partially-empty vessels sailing back their way, therefore return freight is extremely cheap. I am guessing there must be some kind of a situation like this that they are able to take advantage of.

I do know that it is cheaper to ship California-grown animal feed to China than it is to ship it even a few states away domestically -- because China sends us so much more stuff than we send them, that there is an endless amount of empty cargo space on vessels heading from California to China, hence the dirt-cheap freight.

I don't imagine oil tankers could haul hay, granted, but perhaps they piggyback on those half-empty container ships bound for the Far East and then pay full freight the rest of the way. Anyway, that's my best attempt at an answer.

[wit-nit]

Foreign water guzzlers draining La Paz County? ...Saudi Arabian corporation Alamari, along with other foreign investors, are buying up land and planting water-guzzling crops like alfalfa hay and almonds.
Montini: Foreign water guzzlers draining La Paz County?

[ajonesaz]

This was posted in the "Arizona" forum 3 hours before you posted it Saudis siphoning Arizona Water

[GeneR]

Here's the perspective from the pro-feed industry group. Interesting to note the Saudis are doing this because of THEIR water shortage!

Saudi dairy and poultry producer Almarai accelerates feed import policy

[azriverfan.]

Originally Posted by LordBalfor

*YAWN*


Pointless Muslim bashing.

Ken

In my experience, it's usually conservatives who reach to conclusions without bothering to check the facts. But I suppose in your case, liberals also do this. I suppose blind opinions really aren't party specific and comes down to the individual. All you saw was Saudi and criticism and stereotyped "Muslim Bashing" It has nothing to do with Muslims or Saudi Arabia. If these investors were from Denmark, I would have the same opinion. It is essentially that Arizona residents can be overzealous at times with regard to covering news and issues related to water conservation yet this somehow fell through the cracks. This is a criticism of Arizona not necessarily Saudia Arabia. The point I am making is Arizona was willing to turn a blind eye and sell it's more precious resource when dollar signs appeared. If you live in Arizona, you would know that water conservation is a passionate issue and there is always discussion regarding water stores and how long that will last us. Yet, we are willing to essentially give billions of it away to make money.

[azriverfan.]

Originally Posted by GeneR

Here's the perspective from the pro-feed industry group. Interesting to note the Saudis are doing this because of THEIR water shortage!

Saudi dairy and poultry producer Almarai accelerates feed import policy

Great article...completely shameful on Arizona for allowing this. Giving away billions of water for 47 million dollars.