The Arizona town that’s sinking more than two inches every year
Inside the sinking town that’s a ‘train wreck waiting to happen’
- Wenden, a small community in Arizona, is experiencing a severe water crisis, with the ground sinking by nearly three inches annually due to excessive groundwater extraction.
- The town's increased reliance on groundwater, as Colorado River levels decline due to climate change, has led to unsustainable depletion of the local supply.
- A lack of regulation across much of Arizona allows corporate mega-farms to extract vast quantities of groundwater without oversight, outcompeting local residents and businesses.
- This over-pumping causes the ground to subside as water is removed from between clay minerals, leading to significant land collapse.
- Arizona's Attorney General has filed a lawsuit against Fondomonte, a Saudi-owned mega-farm, alleging it has used over 80 per cent of Wenden's groundwater, exacerbating the crisis.