Attorney General Mayes Continues Lawsuit Against Fondomonte for Violating Public Nuisance Law Through Excessive Groundwater Pumping

PHOENIX — Today, Attorney General Kris Mayes announced her office has filed a supplemental brief in Arizona's lawsuit against Fondomonte Arizona, LLC, arguing the public nuisance lawsuit against the megafarm for excessive groundwater pumping complements the Arizona Department of Water Resources' ("ADWR") Active Management Area ("AMA") proceedings.

"We're not backing down. I was born and raised in rural Arizona and I know how important our groundwater is. And I don't believe it should be sucked out from under the people of La Paz County to be sent to Saudi Arabia as alfalfa," said Attorney General Mayes. "The Ranegras AMA is great step forward—but nuisance law still allows us to hold those causing a nuisance accountable sooner and conserve our groundwater earlier." 

Attorney General Mayes sued Fondomonte in December of 2024, alleging that the company’s excessive groundwater pumping in La Paz County violated Arizona’s public nuisance law by threatening the public health, safety, and infrastructure of communities in the Ranegras Plain Basin in La Paz County. On January 9th , 2026, the Director of the Department of Water Resources issued a Findings, Decision and Order to designate the Ranegras Plain Groundwater Basin as a subsequent AMA (Designation Order), pursuant to A.R.S. § 45-414. 

In the new filing, the Attorney General explains the Ranegras Plain Basin AMA is a welcome step forward but cannot provide relief against a specific, alleged wrongdoer. She emphasizes that only a court, not an AMA, can provide the injunctive relief and abatement fund needed to address Fondomonte's alleged harms to the surrounding community. The brief argues that while the AMA imposes generalized basinwide water conservation programs that will, over time, slow the rate of groundwater depletion, only the Attorney General's public nuisance lawsuit can address the alleged harms caused by a single defendant against an entire community.

"Public nuisance and active management areas are complementary," said Attorney General Mayes. "Take the Riverview settlement as one example. We were able to get a major water user to the table related to a public nuisance investigation to save a significant amount of groundwater before the Douglas and Willcox AMAs go into effect." 

As described in the filing, ADWR's AMA designation also confirms many of the factual allegations in the Attorney General's complaint. Groundwater levels in the Ranegras Plain Basin have significantly declined, and are declining at an accelerating rate. There has been more than 40 centimeters of land subsidence observed in the basin in the last 15 years. Left unaddressed, the aquifer's water storage capacity will be irreparably damaged.

Additionally, the brief describes how the Attorney General's public nuisance action will play a vital role in ADWR's AMA process. ADWR awards grandfathered rights to pump groundwater in an AMA only to people legally using groundwater at the time the AMA was declared. However, if Fondomonte is found to have been unlawfully pumping groundwater by causing a public nuisance, then they may be ineligible for grandfathered rights. 

A copy of the supplemental brief is here.