Rep. Gallego looks to crack down on foreign governments using Arizona water

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) — Arizona Rep. Ruben Gallego needs Congress to make it extra pricey for international nations to make use of groundwater in states coping with droughts like Arizona. The Democrat launched the Home Water Safety Act on Wednesday. The measure would impose a 300% tax on the sale and export of any “water-intensive” crops which are grown in drought-stricken states by corporations and governments outdoors the U.S. Gallego stated the excessive tax price displays the “unjustifiable disparity in land lease charges between home and international producers in Arizona.”

The proposal is available in response to Arizona leasing farmland to Fondomonte, a Saudi firm that makes use of the Grand Canyon State’s groundwater to develop alfalfa. Whereas Fondomonte doesn’t say how a lot it makes use of per yr, a report from Arizona’s State Land Division estimates the corporate makes use of 18,000 acre-feet yearly, which is sufficient to provide water to about 54,000 houses. The identical report stated the worth of the water might be as much as $3.9 million per yr. Fondomonte additionally reportedly leases the land at simply $25 acre, which is 50% decrease than the market worth.

Arizona has been in a drought for roughly the previous twenty years. A handful of cities within the Valley have launched water restriction suggestions and extra might be on the way in which. In the course of the summer season, the federal authorities introduced water cuts to states that depend on the Colorado River, whose water line continues to fall. In consequence, Arizona will lose 21% of its annual allotment from the river subsequent yr.

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