Saudi land fuels debate over Calif. water rights

Posted at 6:44 AM, Mar 28, 2016
and last updated 2016-03-28 10:42:55-04
The purchases totaling about 14,000 acres have rekindled debate over whether a patchwork of laws and court rulings in the West favors farmers too heavily, especially those who grow thirsty, low-profit crops such as alfalfa at a time when cities are urging people to take shorter showers, skip car washes and tear out grass lawns.
"It's not easy to completely grasp the business model of the Middle East, but it may not be about business at all," said John Szczepanski, director of the U.S. Forage Export Council. "The primary focus is food security, and the means to that end lie in acquiring the land and resources to ensure long-term supply."
Almarai already farms worldwide to make sure that weather, transportation problems or other conditions don't interrupt supplies. The expansion in the American Southwest was a "natural progression" in its effort to diversify supply, said Jordan Rose, an attorney for the company's Arizona unit.
"The cows feed multiple times a day, and they need to be certain that they are always able to fulfill that unwavering demand," she wrote.
"Southern California and Arizona have good water rights. Who knows if that will change, but that's the way things are now," said Daniel Putnam, an agronomist at the University of California, Davis.
The land purchases signal that Almarai doesn't just want to buy hay; it wants to grow. And it's not the only Arab-owned Gulf company to take that approach.
Most of the farms that Arab companies own worldwide are in developing nations. For instance, Qatar's sovereign wealth fund has holdings in Latin America and Africa.
It later turned to the Palo Verde Valley, where Southern California settlers staked claim to the Colorado River in 1877, beating Los Angeles and San Diego under a Gold Rush-era doctrine called "first in time, first in right" that governs the 1,450-mile waterway. The company paid $31.5 million for 1,790 acres in January after buying about 2,000 acres there last year.
Supporters note that the company has embraced water-conservation methods that few other farmers have adopted. The Arizona Department of Water Resources released maps that show well levels on Almarai's property in La Paz County rose in recent years, and the farm's footprint has remained about the same since 2000.
In California, some farmers say Almarai is a well-run company that has boosted the economy by growing its own alfalfa and buying more hay from neighboring farmers. The company recently broke ground on a plant in California's Imperial Valley to package hay into ship-ready bales.
"We've got them coming, moving in here and using our natural resources up. Why isn't anyone paying attention to the ground we live on?" she said.
Christopher Thornberg, an economist at the University of California at Riverside, called alfalfa farms a "shocking waste of a resource" and suggested California consider seizing land under eminent domain.
"At some point in time," he said, "we have to face the fact that the state cannot continue to prosper under the current circumstances."
Batrawy reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.