DoomsdaysCW<p>via <span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://bird.makeup/users/arizonamirror" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>arizonamirror</span></a></span> </p><p>If <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Hobbs" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Hobbs</span></a> is serious about protecting <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/groundwater" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>groundwater</span></a>, she must work to close the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/mining" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>mining</span></a> loophole</p><p>by Russ McSpadden<br>February 12, 2024 </p><p>"In her first State of the State address just over a year ago, Gov. <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/KatieHobbs" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>KatieHobbs</span></a> was unequivocal about her commitment to tackling one of the state’s greatest challenges: our dwindling <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/water" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>water</span></a> supply.</p><p>“Our groundwater should be used to support <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Arizonans" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Arizonans</span></a>, not foreign business interests,” she said in that speech, referring to the Saudi Arabian conglomerate <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Fondomonte" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Fondomonte</span></a>. Over the past few years, Fondomonte has been pumping unlimited amounts of groundwater in La Paz County for alfalfa crops that it ships to feed cows on the other side of the earth.</p><p>"Though the Hobbs administration has already canceled one of Fondomonte’s four leases and says it won’t renew the others when they’re up this month, the problem doesn’t end with Saudi agriculture.</p><p>"It’s also mining companies that take advantage of loopholes in the state’s water laws to maximize profit at the expense of Arizonans — including mining giants <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/RioTinto" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>RioTinto</span></a> and# BHP.</p><p>"Because of intense pressure from <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/lobbyists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>lobbyists</span></a>, when lawmakers adopted the much-heralded <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ArizonaGroundwaterManagementAct" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ArizonaGroundwaterManagementAct</span></a> in 1980 they exempted <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/mines" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>mines</span></a> from groundwater regulation, even when located in <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ActiveManagement" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ActiveManagement</span></a> Areas — state-designated areas where groundwater pumping is controlled. That means that mines can pump unlimited amounts of water without paying the state a dime.</p><p>"This exemption was controversial in 1980. Today it’s existentially dangerous.</p><p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ResolutionCopper" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ResolutionCopper</span></a>, a subsidiary of Rio Tinto and BHP, is a perfect example. Their proposed mine at <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/OakFlat" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>OakFlat</span></a> — about 70 miles east of <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Phoenix" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Phoenix</span></a> in the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/TontoNationalForest" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TontoNationalForest</span></a> and within the Phoenix Active Management Area — would pump 250 billion gallons of desert groundwater over the life of the project. </p><p>"That’s 17 million gallons of water every day for four decades.</p><p>"Under current water prices, that equates to $404 million worth of groundwater that Resolution Copper will get for free. Arizona won’t see a cent for it. And it’s more than likely that the copper ore from Oak Flat will be exported to China for smelting, again depriving local communities of economic benefit. </p><p>"This limitless pumping would happen even as the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/megadrought" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>megadrought</span></a> that has plagued the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/AmericanSouthwest" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>AmericanSouthwest</span></a> for the past two decades is likely to worsen, straining the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ColoradoRiver" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ColoradoRiver</span></a> and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Gila" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Gila</span></a> rivers even more and making us all more reliant on groundwater aquifers.</p><p>"If left intact, the mining loophole will facilitate construction of Resolution’s massive mine. The extreme water pumping from the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/EastSaltRiverValley" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>EastSaltRiverValley</span></a> will lead to groundwater depletion and subsidence, threatening to deplete wells and damage infrastructure.</p><p>"The <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CenterForBiologicalDiversity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CenterForBiologicalDiversity</span></a>, where I work, has been fighting for decades to stop this mine, and Canadian mining company Hudbay’s disastrous plan to mine for copper in the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SantaRita" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SantaRita</span></a> Mountains south of <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Tucson" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Tucson</span></a> (in the Tucson Active Management Area). </p><p>"Both projects would devastate surrounding fragile <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ecosystems" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ecosystems</span></a>, pushing endangered species like the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/MexicanSpottedOwl" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>MexicanSpottedOwl</span></a> closer to the brink of <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/extinction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>extinction</span></a>. They would also destroy sacred <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/TribalLands" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>TribalLands</span></a> and gulp down massive amounts of water when other users are being asked to conserve.</p><p>"Handing mines unlimited access to Arizona’s precious desert groundwater would be an injustice to Arizona’s <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Tribes" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Tribes</span></a> and every resident of this state.</p><p>"Fortunately, Hobbs has the vision and courage to fight for a secure water future for Arizona. It is time for her to work with legislators to close the mining loophole in Arizona water law and subject mines to the same groundwater pumping limits that apply to other entities within the state’s Active Management Areas.</p><p>"We’re hopeful she will work to block <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ResolutionCopperMine" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>ResolutionCopperMine</span></a> and other terrible mining projects like <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Hudbay" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Hudbay</span></a>’s. At the very least, it’s time for mining giants to pay for the water they use just like the rest of us."</p><p><a href="https://azmirror.com/2024/02/12/if-hobbs-is-serious-about-protecting-groundwater-she-must-work-to-close-the-mining-loophole/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">azmirror.com/2024/02/12/if-hob</span><span class="invisible">bs-is-serious-about-protecting-groundwater-she-must-work-to-close-the-mining-loophole/</span></a> </p><p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/WaterIsLife" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>WaterIsLife</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/HumanRightsViolations" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>HumanRightsViolations</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CulturalGenocide" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CulturalGenocide</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CopperMining" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CopperMining</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Mining" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Mining</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CorporateColonialism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CorporateColonialism</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/EnvironmentalRacism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>EnvironmentalRacism</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/IndigenousNews" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>IndigenousNews</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/SaveOakFlat" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SaveOakFlat</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/IndigenousRights" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>IndigenousRights</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Apache" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Apache</span></a></p>