Unlike the rest of the State, La Paz County, Arizona is facing a water crisis. Residents wells are running dry with the influx of Saudi Arabia farmer Fondomote and International Farming Corp's unrestricted use of groundwater to support massive farming operations started up in the last two years. Founded in 1983, La Paz County was carved out of the earlier regulations allowing local government control and oversight by the state board with the result being a lack of good data about the possible overdraft of the aquifers as well as the continued lack of conservation or sensitivity to the way that pumping billions of gallons of water has negatively affected our very poor county. In addition, we have municipal water farms that seek to deliver cheap water to Scottsdale and yet will not pay a fair property tax. So we have local schools facing bankruptcy while private golf courses in Scottsdale hide behind a municipality to access cheap water for their greens and then pay large taxes to that municipality with not benefit back to the municipality where the water is coming from. I appreciate your work on this but our small rural County feels unprotected and abandoned when it comes to long term stewardship of our water resources.
Published by Kelly sarber, President CEO
Unlike the rest of the State, La Paz County, Arizona is facing a water crisis. Residents wells are running dry with the influx of Saudi Arabia farmer Fondomote and International Farming Corp's unrestricted use of groundwater to support massive farming operations started up in the last two years. Founded in 1983, La Paz County was carved out of the earlier regulations allowing local government control and oversight by the state board with the result being a lack of good data about the possible overdraft of the aquifers as well as the continued lack of conservation or sensitivity to the way that pumping billions of gallons of water has negatively affected our very poor county. In addition, we have municipal water farms that seek to deliver cheap water to Scottsdale and yet will not pay a fair property tax. So we have local schools facing bankruptcy while private golf courses in Scottsdale hide behind a municipality to access cheap water for their greens and then pay large taxes to that municipality with not benefit back to the municipality where the water is coming from. I appreciate your work on this but our small rural County feels unprotected and abandoned when it comes to long term stewardship of our water resources.