Excerpt from this story from Truthout:
Rural La Paz County, Arizona, positioned on the Colorado River across from California, is at the center of a growing fight over water in the American Southwest. At the heart of the battle is a question: Should water be treated as a human right, to be allocated by governments with the priority of sustaining life? Or is it a commodity to be bought, sold and invested in for the greatest profits?
As the West suffers its worst megadrought in 1,200 years, investors have increasingly eyed water as a valuable asset and a resource to be exploited. For years, investment firms have bought up farmland throughout the Southwest, drilling to new depths for their water-hungry crops and causing nearby wells to run dry. Now, new players have entered the scene: “Water management companies” are purchasing up thousands of acres of farmland, with the intention of selling the water rights at a profit to cities and suburbs elsewhere in the state. Some argue that treating water as a commodity can efficiently get it where it is needed most. But others fear that water markets open the door to profiteering and hoarding, leaving poorer communities in the dust.
In 2013 and 2014, GSC Farm, a subsidiary of a water management company called Greenstone Resource Partners, which is backed by MassMutual, bought nearly 500 acres of farmland in Cibola, a tiny town in Arizona’s La Paz County, for just under $10 million. The farmland comes with the rights to more than 2,000 acre-feet of Colorado River water a year. (An acre-foot is the amount of water it takes to cover one acre with one foot of water.) Then in 2018, Greenstone sold the water rights, in perpetuity, to Queen Creek, a rapidly growing suburb of Phoenix nearly 200 miles away, for $24 million.
The transfer marked the first time a water management company sold Colorado River water rights. La Paz and two other counties sued to block the transfer, arguing that the Bureau of Reclamation, the federal agency that oversees water resource management, had conducted an insufficient environmental review before signing off. The counties’ request for a preliminary injunction was denied in April 2023 by a federal judge, and three months later the water began flowing down the Central Arizona Project, a 336-mile canal. Then, the judge seemingly backtracked in February 2024, ordering a more thorough environmental review.
“In the meantime, they’re still allowing for the water to flow, which we argued should have been stopped completely until the complete environmental studies have been done,” Holly Irwin, a La Paz County supervisor, told Truthout. “It’s really frustrating, not only for myself, but for the other leaders and elected officials in what we refer to as the river communities.”
The ultimate results of the lawsuit could affect how easily water management companies are able to transfer river water rights for profit in the future.
“I’ve had people already contacting me, asking, ‘Hey, look, I’m looking to buy this piece of property. It’s got water rights. Can it be transferred off the Colorado River?’” said Irwin. “Which is what we knew was going to happen. They just opened up Pandora’s box.”
Companies like Greenstone are betting that the price of water will increase. Western states generally allocate water through a “prior appropriation” policy of “first in time, first in right.” In times of shortage, those with the most senior water claims — often farmers and ranchers whose ancestors claimed Native land — are allotted their full share of water first. Now, companies like Greenstone are lining up to buy those increasingly valuable water rights.
The Colorado River provides drinking water to 40 million people across seven U.S. states, two Mexican states, and multiple tribal lands. Since 1922, its water has been allocated among the states through a framework created by the Colorado River Compact. But river volume has decreased 20 percent since the beginning of the century, leading to tense renegotiations, with the three “lower basin” states — California, Arizona and Nevada — agreeing to reduce their water shares.
Compared to Colorado River water, groundwater tends to be less regulated. Major investment banks have spent hundreds of millions buying up farms with claims to the groundwater beneath them — part of a larger movement by investors into physical assets like lumber, buildings and infrastructure.
Once pumped, groundwater aquifers in warm, dry places can take thousands of years to replenish. In an effort to conserve water basins, Arizona passed the 1980 Groundwater Management Act, heavily restricting groundwater pumping in several urban “active-management areas” (AMAs), including the Phoenix and Tucson areas. It also mandated that developers obtain a state Certificate of Assured Water Supply, demonstrating their new projects have enough water for 100 years. The law is credited as a success for protecting water levels in urban areas. But its lack of restrictions on groundwater removal from rural basins has become a concern as the state population swells and rural wells run dry.
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It's short wait for her at Harper's office, as always. The doctor is surprisingly accomodating whenever she stops by, and Avery isn't sure if it's the money talking or something else that makes her so cooperative. This makes all interactions with the good doctor so very uncomfortable.
"How have you been?" Harper asks, smiling pleasantly. She has one of those unsettlingly calm faces. It might be comforting for something else, but to Avery it's like a still lake. Probably swarming with bacteria and parasites, that is.
"Fine." Avery is always curt to her, albeit polite. "I just want my prescription. I have work today until later, and i'm all out of my medicine."
"On a sunday?" Harper's eyebrows shoot up. "My, that must be stressful."
"You're also working on a sunday." Avery points out, with a hint of a frown on her face.
"Yes, but i like my job." Harper gives her another one of those unnerving, placid smiles.
Avery doesn't like the implication of her words, but she keeps quiet. She needs to stay on the doctor's good side, at least until she gets another supplier.
"And you're in luck." Harper says, getting up to grab something in a cabinet behind her desk. "I've just gotten samples of your prescription, so you don't even need to go to the pharmacy."
She holds out two little bottles of pills, unlabeled, unlicensed opiates. Likely stronger than the stuff she could buy anywhere else. Avery can't help but get a bit excited to feel that high again, as her tolarance built up over the years.
"That's nice." Avery smiles carefully. "How much?"
"Because it's you... I guess £20000 will do." Harper decides. "A discount for a regular. So?"
"Hey, that's steep." Avery frowns, but Harper seems completely unfazed, as always.
"You can always just grab the usual." Harper shrugs, setting the bottles down on her desk, then getting in front of them as she leans back on her desk. "Ah, i hate to see you looking so sad. I can give you a prescription for the pharmacy for the same price as always, or..."
"Or?" Avery raises an eyebrow at the doctor. She doesn't like her tone, but if it's a good offer...
"You can help me with research, and i'll dock the price." Harper's smile widens a bit as she says it. "Answer some questions for me, and i can do it for around... £15000. What do you say?"
Avery has blinks a little. That big of a discount, just for answering some questions? It had to have a catch, but... The temptation of something that could give her a decent high was too strong.
"Okay, fine, but make it quick. I have work." Avery hurriedly replies, and Harper's claps once like a little kid.
"Okay, great! Let me just..." The doctor turns and grabs a clipboard and pen from her desk, scribbling something on the paper. "Whenever you're ready."
"Let's get this over with already." Impatient, Avery has to hold back from rolling her eyes at the pretense of profissionalism.
"Right, first question. What drugs do you usually take?" Harper asks, and as Avery shoots her a glare, she explains. "Drug is an umbrella term that describes medicines, too, as i'm sure you know. I'm not implying anything here, miss Avery, please don't be offended."
"You know that already, then." Avery huffs, but Harper just chuckles a little.
"For the purposes of research, i can't assume anything about the subjects. Now, if you'd be kind to tell me..." She insists.
"God, fine." Avery reluctantly lists them, by brand rather than name, to emphasize their legal status just in case that file falls in the wrong hands. Harper seems a bit amused by this, but doesn't comment on it.
"You smoke, correct?" Harper asks, and Avery takes a moment before nodding.
"Just occasionally." She adds, making Harper shoot her a look. Whatever, she didn't need to prove anything.
"What about alcohol?" Harper continues.
"...Socially." Avery replies, and Harper sets down the clipboard.
"Miss Avery, i know i said i shouldn't assume anything about the subjects, but i'd like it if you were truthful." Harper almost sounds like she's begging, and Avery hates that it could work if she didn't know better. "Don't worry, nobody else is going to see this, and your name won't be on it. It's... Personal research."
Avery lets out a loud sigh as she looks away from Harper's pleading eyes.
"Fine, yes, i do drink more than socially, but i'm not an alcoholic or something! Put that down exactly like that!" Avery half-growls, her impatience getting the best of her, and she hates even more that Harper seems pleased by that.
As Harper takes her time writing, Avery looks at the watch on her wrist. She'll run late if the good doctor doesn't pick up her pace.
"Are we done?" Avery asks, not bothering to hide her irritation anymore.
"Two more questions." Harper grins at her. "Do you often mix alcohol and your usual drugs?"
"...Sometimes, so what? You said it'd be fine if the dosing was on the low side." Avery grumbles.
"It's usually fine, don't worry." Harper shakes her head. "Last question, how do you usually feel when you do that?"
She stares at Avery intensely, making her feel even more reluctant to answer.
"I feel fine." Avery replies, but Harper doesn't even bother writing it down. She wants details, clearly. "I don't know, i feel relaxed, my head feels lighter for a moment. Is that what you want to know?"
"A little more, if you will." There's a glint of something in Harper's eyes that Avery can't quite discern, maybe just a sick curiosity, or maybe something more dangerous.
"I... I get drunk easier. I guess. I suppose it makes me more willing to get drunk." Avery says, hoping that will satisfy the doctor, but she keeps staring behind her pink-tinted glasses, expecting even more. "Sometimes when i fall sleep like that and wake up i don't remember much, but it feels like a really good night's sleep."
Harper nods and quickly scribbles something, as Avery starts to tap her foot on the floor unconsciously, wanting to get out of there as fast as possible. When Harper looks at her again, there's an intensity in her gaze that wasn't there before.
"I have another offer to make." Harper says, her grin widening as she reached for the bottle behind her. "If you take one of those right now, i'll give you another £5000 discount."
Avery feels a chill run down her spine, something telling her that this would be a bad idea. The alarm on her phone goes off and warns her that lunch break is over, and she can't thank herself enough for setting it up earlier.
"No, i'm already late." She gets up, and Harper's smile fades a little. "I'll just pay for the samples, thank you."
Before she even finishes speaking, the money is already out of her wallet and being shoved in Harper's direction, but the doctor takes an awfully long time before reaching for the bank notes. There's an almost forlorn look on her face as she hands Avery the bottles.
"Next time i might make some ajustments." Harper says, sounding a bit defeated, though Avery knows it means it might get more expensive. Her smile is back shortly after, though. "Please tell me if it's any good."
"Yeah, yeah, i'll be in touch, thank you." Avery can't hide her relief to have ended that crazy negotiation.
The doctor's eyes fixate on her back as she leaves the office and closes the door maybe a bit too forcefully. It occurred to her, maybe a bit too late, that this might entice Harper's curiosity even more. With a shiver, she hoped that those little pills were enough to stop her from having nightmares about prodding, curious little needles and scalpels reaching for her forehead, trying to pick her head open like Harper always tried to do.
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