Saudi Arabia is using precious American water to feed their own cows Al Dahra ACX Global Inc., a top U.S. hay exporter based in Bakersfield, California, is owned by Al Dahra Agriculture Co. of United Arab Emirates. Batrawy reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The Christian Science Monitor is an international news organization offering calm, thoughtful, award-winning coverage for independent thinkers. Tackling the tough headlines with humanity. The eastern slope of the mountain range in Asir is gentle, melding into a plateau region that drops gradually into the Rub al Khali. The answer, as of March, is . 2, p. 219, Water supply and sanitation in Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia United Arab Emirates border dispute, "International Boundary Study, No. How much do you know about Saudi Arabia? 7. Humidity is low, except along the coasts, where it can be high and very oppressive. (These people own the most land in America.) Author of, Research Associate, Tel Aviv University, Israel. . Because the plants and animals of the sea floor are the basis of the food chain, damage to the shoreline has consequences for the whole shallow-water ecosystem, including the multimillion-dollar Saudi fisheries industry. The US government reveals the size of Saudi Arabia's treasury holdings for the first time since the 1970s. [] . Quiz, https://www.britannica.com/place/Saudi-Arabia, Central Intelligence Agency - The World Factbook - Saudi Arabia, Official Site of the Royal Embassy of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Japan, Saudi Arabia - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), Saudi Arabia - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up), This year's Hajj was held in sweltering heat, and for those serving pilgrims there was little relief, Saudi Arabia is being considered by the women's tennis tour for possible business, Muslim pilgrims take part in symbolic stoning of the devil as Hajj pilgrimage winds down, Indonesia's Muslims celebrate Eid al-Adha with feasts after disease last year disrupted rituals, Muslims at Hajj brave intense heat to cast stones at pillars representing the devil. At first, most expatriated workers were Arab, such as Yemenis, Egyptians, Palestinians, Syrians, and Iraqis. There is no endpoint, answers Debby Irving, who wrote the book Waking Up White: And Finding Myself in the Story of Race. The undergirding of reparations isnt linear. Opinion | A Saudi Arabian Dairy Giant in Siphoning Off Arizona's Larger animals such as gazelles, oryx, leopards, and mountain goats were relatively numerous until about 1950, when hunting from motor vehicles reduced these animals almost to extinction. Thus, the proximity of sub-Saharan Africa along the Red Sea littoral and the constant historical influx of peoples from Iran, Pakistan, and India along the Persian Gulf coast have left traces of the physical types characteristic of those peoples among the native population. The Persian Gulf War of 1991 brought serious environmental damage to the region. The $300 billion Public . Saudi Arabian Company Purchases Land to Outsource Drought to California Four years ago, Thomas Buschatzke, Gov. March 28, 2016 | San Diego Saudi Arabia's largest dairy company will soon be unable to farm alfalfa in its own parched country to feed its 170,000 cows. . The water levels in more than 2,000 wellshave dropped more than 100 feet since they were first drilled. This coastal plain is part of the Arabian Peninsula coastal fog desert ecoregion. The number of newly constructed wells is accelerating, and wells are being drilled deeper and hitting water at lower levels. Eastward, as the plateau surface slopes very gradually down to the gulf, there are numerous salt flats (sabkhahs) and marshes. Moreover, to these two major sources of environmental damage must be added large quantities of refuse, toxic materials, and between 173 million and 207 million liters of untreated sewage in sand pits left behind by coalition forces. Permanent crops: A: Some have raised concern about the amount of water needed but many welcome the economic boost that Almarai has given as worries about China have dimmed prospects for alfalfa exports. The level of precipitation is also low throughout the country, amounting to about 2.5 inches (65 mm) at Jeddah, a little more than 3 inches (75 mm) at Riyadh, and 3 inches at Al-Dammm. . In the absence of permanent rivers or bodies of water, streams and groundwater, desalinated seawater and very scarce surface water must supply the country's needs. What is the Monitor difference? 2016 28,160,273 50 . To further conserve water, the country has adopted bans on selected crops. ET. Average temperatures for the coolest months, December through February, are 74 F (23 C) at Jeddah, 58 F (14 C) at Riyadh, and 63 F (17 C) at Al-Dammm. Others say the purchases highlight misguided water policies. Farmers and water experts have greeted Almarai with both cheers and jeers. Although the countrys tribes are often considered pure Arabscertainly they are the descendants of the peninsulas original ethnic stocka certain degree of ethnic heterogeneity is evident among both the sedentary and nomadic populations of Saudi Arabia. 1000 . There are virtually no permanent surface streams in the country, but wadis are numerous. In the countrys geographic heartland is a region known as Najd (Highland), a vast arid zone that until recent times was populated by nomadic tribes. Arizona is being drained dry by out-of-state and foreign interests, and our state government isnt doing anything to stop it. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. Saudi Arabia's eastern boundary follows the Persian Gulf from Ras 'al Khafji to the peninsula of Qatar, whose border with Saudi Arabia was determined in 1965. About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review under the charming heading of do things that dont interest you: Many things that end up being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. How much farmland does Russia own in the United States? The city of Phoenix bought about 13,000 acres there in 1986 and sold it in 2012 after giving up on building infrastructure to carry water about 100 miles to the nation's sixth-largest city. This website uses cookies to Saudi Arabia Farming Arizona Land After Depleting Domestic Water Sources Longitudinal dunesscores of kilometers in length and as much as ninety meters high, and separated by valleys as much as sixteen kilometers widecharacterize the An Nafud. In winter, cyclonic weather systems generally skirt north of the Arabian Peninsula, moving eastward from the Mediterranean Sea, though sometimes they reach eastern and central Arabia and the Persian Gulf. contiguous zone: The border demarcation was defined by a 1990 agreement between Saudi Arabia and Oman that included provisions for shared grazing rights and water rights. In the mid-20th century, most of Saudi Arabia still embraced a traditional lifestyle that had changed little over thousands of years. Jordan gained 19km (12mi) of land on the Gulf of Aqaba and 6,000 square kilometers of territory in the interior, and 7,000 square kilometers of Jordanian-administered, landlocked territory was ceded to Saudi Arabia.[1]. In the north, the western highlands are upward of 5,000 feet (1,500 metres) above sea level, decreasing slightly to 4,000 feet (1,200 metres) in the vicinity of Medina and increasing southeastward to more than 10,000 feet (3,000 metres). Updated: 4:35 AM MST January 6, 2023 LA PAZ, Arizona A desert filled with dust, rock and dry vegetation is now teeming with rows of vividly green crops and roaming livestock fueled by. A second lower escarpment, the Jabal Tuwayq, runs north to south through the area of Riyadh. In the early 1980s, the Butler Valley was given to the state of Arizona to be managed by the State Land Department for a groundwater reserve . Some weather systems move southward along the Red Sea trough and provide winter precipitation as far south as Mecca and sometimes as far as Yemen. This region is mainly rocky plateau interspersed by small, sandy deserts and isolated mountain clumps. By Ben Tracy April 20, 2023 / 10:39 AM / CBS News Farms in western Arizona are growing alfalfa - one of the most water-intensive crops - in an area where there's a shortage of water. To the west, the Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea form a coastal border of almost 1,800km (1,100mi) that extends to the southern part of Yemen and follows a mountain ridge for approximately 320km (200mi) to the vicinity of Najran. A small number of such visitors have settled in and around the holy cities throughout the years, either out of religious devotion or because penury prevented their return home. After years of discussions, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait reached an agreement in 1965 that divided the zone geographically, with each country administering its half of the zone. But rural counties have no restrictions. Nearly four years ago, in February 2016, I spoke with La Paz County Supervisor Holly Irwin. Saudi land purchases in California and Arizona fuel debate over water And we can prove it.. With Lisa Chow. A smaller sand area of about 22,000 square miles (57,000 square km), called Al-Nafd (nafd designating a sandy area or desert), is in the north-central part of the country. 87% 42% 1.731 2016 90% . Its cyclical. Were seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. In all likelihood, if these. The coastal plain, known as the Tihmah, is virtually nonexistent in the north, except for occasional wadi deltas, but it widens slightly toward the south. Saudi firm has pumped Arizona groundwater for years without - Yahoo They want to farm.". Farther east the terrain changes abruptly to the flat lowlands of the coastal plain. This area, known as Badiyat ash Sham, and covered with grass and scrub vegetation, is extensively used for pasture by nomadic and seminomadic herders. [3], The western coastal escarpment can be considered two mountain ranges separated by a gap in the vicinity of Mecca in Tihamah. Saudi Arabia's sovereign-wealth fund more than quadrupled the value of its US stock portfolio to $9.8 billion last quarter, a financial filing revealed on Friday. While foreign farms export hay, people in western Arizona ask: Shouldnt they have to pay for the water? subscription yet. 4,415km . in addition to others. Forests and Woodland: Why isn't anyone paying attention to the ground we live on?" It should also be noted that a) how that number was arrived at has never been explained and b) it's completely devoid of context.lots of property in lots of countries are owned by people that aren't citizens of said country. The problem is especially severe in unregulated rural areas where there are no limits on pumping. Some months before I spoke with Irwin the investigative radio program Reveal reported that a Saudi dairy company bought 15 square miles of land to grow water-intensive hay for export back to the Middle East for hungry cows to eat. The Saudi government, Saudi Aramco, and the United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) have made separate and joint efforts to exploit underground water resources. Who knows when there will be sustainable balance? 4,272 7 (811 ) (731 ) (221 ) (457 ) (87 ) (658 ) (1,307 ). Television, radio, and the Internet have become common media of communication and education, and highways and airways have replaced traditional means of transportation. The southern portion of the Ad Dahna curves westward following the arc of the Jabal Tuwayq. Many oases exist in this area, the most important of which are Buraydah, Unayzah, Riyadh, and Al Kharj. Some farms. In the Rub al-Khali a decade may pass with no precipitation at all. Arable land: In California, some farmers say Almarai is a well-run company that has boosted the economy by growing its own alfalfa and buying more hay from neighboring farmers. Reporter Nathan Halverson tells NPR's Renee Montagne that Almarai bought about 15 square miles . Foreign Purchases of U.S. Agricultural Land: Facts, Figures, and an In places, particularly in the east, longitudinal sand dunes prevail; elsewhere sand mountains as much as 300 meters in height form complex patterns. When will talk of reparations be finished?. Land area (sq. Modern methods of production have been superimposed on a traditional society by the introduction of millions of foreign workers and by the employment of hundreds of thousands of Saudis in nontraditional jobs. Of these oases, the largest and most important is Medina. In March and April, some precipitation, normally torrential, falls. Despite the widespread drought conditions, the U.S. is attractive to water-seeking companies because it has strong legal protections for agriculture, even though the price of land is higher than in other places. We Temperatures in the desert frequently rise as high as 130 F (55 C) in the summer. Read Edit View history Tools Detailed map of Saudi Arabia and its regions Location of Saudi Arabia The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a country situated in Southwest Asia, the largest country of Arabia, by the Arabian Peninsula, bordering the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea, north of Yemen. The Claim A tweet posted on October 10, 2022, questioned why Saudi Arabia "bought 100% of Port Arthur in Texas.America's largest oil refinery.completed in 2017 (during Trump's. Were run by a church, but were not only for church members and were not about converting people. Hosted by Katrin Bennhold. The written language, Modern Standard Arabic, is derived from Classical Arabic, the language of the Qurn, and is used as a literary koine within the kingdom and throughout the broader Arab world. You dont have a Christian Science Monitor Were about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, You are bigger and more capable than you realize. 18nmi (33.3km; 20.7mi) The overall effects of the oil spill and the oil fires on marine life, human health, water quality, and vegetation remained to be determined as of 1992[update]. Food and Agriculture Organization, electronic files and web site. How much U.S. farmland is foreign owned? (2023) - Investguiding A great arc of sand, Al-Dahn, almost 900 miles (1,450 km) long but in places only 30 miles (50 km) wide, joins Al-Nafd with the Rub al-Khali. Outside the oasis areas, Najd is sparsely populated. The watershed of the peninsula is only 25 miles (40 km) from the Red Sea in the north and recedes to 80 miles (130 km) near the Yemen border. The Arabian Peninsula is an ancient massif composed of stable crystalline rock whose geologic structure developed concurrently with the Alps. In 2014, Almarai paid $47.5 million for more than 9,800 acres in La Paz County, Arizona, a sparsely populated alfalfa-growing region that is exempt from severe restrictions on pumping imposed on Phoenix, Tucson and other large Arizona cities under a 1980 state law designed to protect the state's aquifers. Saudis take 100% control of America's largest oil refinery - CNN Business 70% . I know the governor wants to put together a plan for dealing with the states water issues. To the east, this region is bounded by a series of long, low ridges, with steep slopes on the west and gentle slopes on the east; the area is 750 miles (1,200 km) long and curves eastward from north to south. Separated by roughly eighty-one-hundred miles of land and ocean, the initially disparate regions of the American Southwest and the Arabian Peninsula are united by the ways in which each region's hostile desert climate has made water a scarce resource. How much of America does Saudi Arabia own now days? Youll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com. But part of the kingdom's long-term food security strategy means investing in higher-cost countries with greater political stability, said John Lawton, owner of Agriculture Technology Co., a farming company in Saudi Arabia. In the valley created by the fault, called the Great Rift, the Red Sea was formed. In Arizona, fresh scrutiny of Saudi-owned farm's water use Published: Jan. 24, 2022 at 2:02 PM PST Gray's National Investigative Team is covering issues surrounding transparency in agriculture. The land purchases signal that Almarai doesn't just want to buy hay; it wants to grow. In summer, the highlands of Asir (Asr), southeast of Mecca, receive enough precipitation from the monsoonal winds to support a steppelike strip of land. Saudi Arabias growing petroleum wealth also wrought irreversible domestic changeseducational and social as well as economic. Saudi Arabia has 170,000 dairy cows - similar to these - it needs to feed. Saudi firm isn't the only investor draining rural Arizona water 2 . There the drainage is more clearly dendritic (i.e., branching) and is much more extensive than that flowing toward the Red Sea. East of the Ad Dahna lies the As Summen Plateau, about 120 kilometers wide and dropping in elevation from about 400 meters in the west to about 240 meters in the east. In the Hijaz, wells are abundant, and springs are common in the mountainous areas. 2000 . contact customer service In the highlands of Asir, more than 19 inches (480 mm) a year may be received, falling mostly between May and October when the summer monsoon winds prevail. License: CC BY-4.0 . 5. The area north of the An Nafud is geographically part of the Syrian Desert. How much farmland in the US is foreign owned? Arizonas groundwater levels are plummeting in many areas. Thats Monitor reporting news that changes how you see the world. Unlimited Groundwater In the Desert Pads Pockets of Saudi - Drovers To the east, along the Persian Gulf, are the countrys abundant oil fields that, since the 1960s, have made Saudi Arabia synonymous with petroleum wealth. And it's not the only Arab-owned Gulf company to take that approach. Last year, the nation's largest distributor of drinking water became Palo Verde Valley's largest landowner, tapping a deep distrust between farm and city that pervades the West. - This year, the kingdom will no longer produce wheat. Eastern Arabia is sometimes called 'Al-Hasa or 'Al Ahsa after the great oasis, one of the more fertile areas of the country. "They're banging it out, I'm telling you," said Seiler. Supporters note that the company has embraced water-conservation methods that few other farmers have adopted. There are a few small areas of grass and trees in southern Asir. The most prominent of the ridges are the uwayq Mountains (Jibl uwayq), which rise from the plateau at an elevation of some 2,800 feet (850 metres) above sea level and reach more than 3,500 feet (1,100 metres) southwest of Riyadh, overlooking the plateaus surface to the west by 800 feet (250 metres) and more. Those folks have as much right as any other individual in the state of Arizona to grow their produce, grow their crops, sell them, export them. Published March 28, 2016 In January this year, the Almarai Company of Saudi Arabia bought $32 million worth of land in California's Palo Verde Valley, doubling its holdings there, and an. Saudi Arabia, arid, sparsely populated kingdom of the Middle East. Starting in 2014, Saudi-owned Almarai dairy company has purchased about 14,000 acres of farmland in the Western U.S.enough to feed its 170,000 cows. What foreign country owns the most U.S. land? The shallow areas affected normally provide feeding grounds for birds, and feeding and nursery areas for fish and shrimp. . Edited by M.J. Davis Lin , Patricia Willens and Chris Wood. Until the 1980s, Saudi Arabia had lakes at Layla Aflaj and deep waterholes at 'Al-Kharj, fed by huge underground aquifers formed in prehistoric times and non-renewable. The company paid $31.5 million for 1,790 acres in January after buying about 2,000 acres there last year. We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. How much land does Saudi Arabia own in the United States There are various degrees of mutual intelligibility among dialect groups, but some differences are quiet pronounced. A 1922 compact that parceled out allotments gave California more than 10 times what Nevada got. [] 2.149.690 . This series explores efforts around the world to seek justice and restitution for communities subjected to historical harms. Produced by Mary Wilson , Alex Stern and Will Reid. Since then the pace of life in Saudi Arabia accelerated rapidly. Latest book reviews, author interviews, and reading trends. 32,375,000 Currency Exchange Rate: 1 USD equals 3.750 Saudi Arabian riyal Form Of Government: monarchy 1 The gulf coastline is irregular, and the coastal waters are very shallow. Geologic movements caused the entire mass to tilt eastward and the western and southern edges to tilt upward. See all media Head Of State And Government: King: Salman bin Abdulaziz, assisted by Prime Minister: Mohammed bin Salman Capital: Riyadh Population: (2023 est.) Most of the regions traditional nomads, the Bedouin, have been settled in cities or agrarian communities. Saudi Arabia, once a country of small cities and towns, has become increasingly urban; traditional centres such as Jeddah, Mecca, and Medina have grown into large cities, and the capital, Riyadh, a former oasis town, has grown into a modern metropolis. It slopes from above 2,600 feet (800 metres) near the border with Yemen northeastward down almost to sea level near the Persian Gulf; individual sand mountains reach elevations of 800 feet (250 metres), especially in the eastern part.
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