The investment is in a foreign-owned company that plans to divert billions of gallons of the state's water to overseas customers. This is seen as a disregard for the welfare of Arizona residents and the environment, as the region is facing water shortages.
The state’s investment into exporting its own water comes as the region faces ongoing water shortages. Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs announced this year that parts of the metro Phoenix area don’t have enough water to continue building new houses amid ongoing groundwater depletion. The state also faces the likelihood of further reductions in water supplied from the dwindling Colorado River.
“It makes me angry, you know. It’s unbelievable that the state can do that with our retirement fund,” Irwin said. “I’ve been fighting for years to keep the water here, and it’s just frustrating – everywhere you look around, you know that this water is being depleted and alfalfa hay is being shipped overseas.
In 2012, the city decided to sell the land atop this public water supply for $30 million to the North Carolina-based International Farming Corp., which manages about $2.2 billion in agricultural investments. That same year, the Arizona State Retirement System invested $175 million with the firm. In particular, investors are increasingly targeting water rights in arid regions of the United States. In a 2022 prospectus shared with potential investors, IFC wrote that the water rights associated with land deals are a key component of the value of any potential investment and that “water rights in Southern California and Arizona are expected to increase in value.”.
“It just exacerbates an already terrible situation and shows again the abject failure of our government to protect our people and to protect our future,” Mayes said. “Our very survival as a state depends on our doing better when it comes to water.”
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