Attorney General Kris Mayes announced a settlement agreement with an out of state dairy company to reduce groundwater usage in the Sulphur Springs Valley on Thursday.
The settlement will reduce the groundwater use of Riverview LLP – a Minnesota-based dairy company operating in Cochise County – and set up a fund of $11 million split into two separate funds, for impacted residents to use for well-drilling, water-hauling and groundwater access.
Mayes said that this settlement sets a new precedent in the state.
“Instead of being hit with a nuisance lawsuit, big agricultural or other water users who are causing damage to their neighbors can come to the table and if they come to the table with enough that’s adequate to helping their neighbors, adequate to repairing the aquifer, that we can make a deal,” she said.
She noted that the total value of the settlement is about $30 million – $19 million of that is what Riverview is projected to lose as a result of taking 2,000 acres of land out of service to conserve more than 100,000 acre feet of water, over the next 12 years.
During Thursday’s press conference, Mayes talked about the town hall that she hosted in Cochise County two years ago where a number of residents in the Sulphur Springs Valley said that Riverview was dewatering their wells.
She also stated that was the most impactful event that she’s ever had.
“In my 20-some years of politics and government, where so many people got up and literally cried about the damage that was being done to their livelihoods and their bank accounts and their homes and their ability to continue to live in this beautiful part of Arizona, we knew we needed to do something and take action to help address this problem,” she said.
Mayes said that her office negotiated with Riverview for about a year and before that, conducted a year-long investigation that included hiring a hydrologist to study the dairy company’s water usage and the impact to the valley.
Despite reaching a settlement, however, Mayes said she expected a mixed reaction from residents, referring to those who were not entirely satisfied.
During Thursday’s press conference a resident had stated that the settlement wasn’t enough, raising concerns for wildlife in the area and the amount of wells that have been drilled due to groundwater depletion.
“I don’t disagree that this settlement is not perfect, but it is the first of its kind anywhere in the country, the first of its kind in Arizona and I think the fallowing of that land and repair to the aquifer that will happen as a result of this first step will hopefully help,” she said, before noting that more work is needed to address groundwater decline in Cochise County.
