Arizona Community Faces Sinkage Crisis Due to Overpumping of Groundwater

The small town of Wenden, Arizona, has experienced a subsidence of over 18 feet in the past eighty years, with the land steadily sinking as residents struggle to access clean water. This decline is primarily attributed to intensive groundwater extraction, especially by large commercial farms that are depleting the land’s underground resources.

Residents of Wenden, located approximately 60 miles east of the Colorado River, have had to drill increasingly deeper wells—some thousands of feet into the ground—to reach groundwater. As surface aquifers dwindle, the community’s dependency on deep wells grows more urgent, threatening their water security.

Three people in front of a water tank reading "Wenden, AZ. Domestic Water Co." — Wenden has been sinking for decades due to groundwater depletion.

Wenden sources about 38% of its water from the Colorado River, a significant share also used by major cities like Los Angeles and Phoenix. As local groundwater becomes increasingly unreachable, community members are left without reliable water supplies.

“It’s a catastrophe waiting to happen,” warns Gary Saiter, director of the Wenden Water Improvement District. He notes the land has sunk over 3.5 feet since 2015, with an ongoing annual subsidence rate of about 2.2 inches. This unsustainable trend is driven by the rapid increase in groundwater extraction, largely for agriculture.

Map showing land subsidence in La Paz County, AZ — Land subsidence in Arizona’s La Paz County highlights the impact of excessive groundwater pumping.

The problem is exacerbated by a lack of regulation: nearly 80% of Arizona lacks groundwater management rules, allowing farms and companies to extract water without transparency or limits.

Big foreign-owned farms, especially those growing water-intensive crops like alfalfa, have expanded dramatically during the 2010s—nearly doubling in size—and are estimated to consume around 81% of the area’s groundwater.

Arizona authorities, including Attorney General Kris Mayes, have taken legal action. Mayes filed a lawsuit against megafarm company Fondomonte, owned by Saudi Arabia’s largest dairy firm, accusing it of depleting local groundwater supplies despite claims of responsible water use. The company’s aggressive pumping may threaten the entire community’s water future.

State efforts to regulate groundwater have faced political challenges, with proposals for new management areas and restrictions on pumping repeatedly stalled. The ongoing struggle underscores the urgent need for sustainable water policies in Arizona’s arid landscape.