WILLCOX, Ariz. — Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced Thursday a precedent-setting settlement with Riverview, LLP (Riverview Dairy) that requires the company to reduce groundwater withdrawals in the Sulphur Springs Valley and to provide $11 million to help residents secure potable water through well drilling, water-hauling and expanded groundwater access.
“This has never happened anywhere in the country. We made it happen here because we needed to make it happen here,” Mayes said.
Under the agreement, Riverview will transition 2,000 acres of irrigated farmland — the company’s largest irrigated footprint in the basin — over the next 12 years and maintain enhanced water-conservation practices (including low-energy precision irrigation, drop hoses, pivot automation and variable frequency drives). The company is barred from selling land unless substitute acreage is taken out of row-crop production or maintained in non-row-crop use.
Riverview will deposit $11 million into two $5.5 million funds targeted at people and institutions affected by groundwater declines. The Riverview Funding Commitment, administered by Riverview under the settlement, will serve residents and water systems within a 1.6-mile radius of any Riverview irrigation well. The Sulphur Springs Water Fund — to be administered by a third‑party nonprofit and overseen by a five‑member review panel including the Sulphur Spring Alliance, the Lincoln Institute’s Babbitt Center, ASU’s Sustainability Institute and the University of Arizona Water Resources Research Center — will serve impacted residents outside that radius. The Sulphur Springs Water Fund will begin accepting applications April 8, 2026.
“In this case, I think this is great, though. So put this will help some people out that are having needs right now, and I hope it's just a start that this fund can continue to grow,” Mayes said.
Funds can be used for replacement or re-drilling of domestic wells, installation of tank systems, water fill stations, water-hauling services, and support or expansion of community water systems. Both funds explicitly allow multi-party applications to support shared, more efficient water infrastructure. The settlement requires periodic reporting to the Attorney General’s office; Riverview’s contribution schedule spans up to 20 years with acceleration triggers for outstanding claims.
“This will provide a fund to be able to keep them in their homes, and then also keep the hope to hopefully start to allow the aquifer to heal,” Mayes said.
The announcement frames the agreement as the first of its kind in Arizona and, officials say, nationwide — a private-company commitment to materially reduce pumping while directly funding relief for neighbors whose water supplies have been harmed. Mayes said the deal is a response to years of falling groundwater levels and what she described as legislative inaction on protections for rural groundwater users.
Local residents, water experts and elected officials praised the settlement. U.S. Senators Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego, water-policy veterans including Kathy Ferris and Jim Holway, former Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard, local leaders and advocacy groups such as the Environmental Defense Fund and the Sierra Club offered statements lauding the relief for families with dry wells and noting the wider need for legislative solutions to stabilize rural aquifers. Willcox leaders and area farmers also called the funding and fallowing commitments a meaningful step toward protecting community water supplies and sustaining rural agriculture.
Pearce resident Steve Kisiel has been monitoring his well for years. He sees the settlement as move in the right direction.
“In this case, I think this is great, though. So put this will help some people out that are having needs right now, and I hope it's just a start that this fund can continue to grow,” Kisiel said. “This whole basin is going to sink or swim, based on what Riverview is able to do in terms of helping to reduce the amount of overall water that's being pumped.”
Critics and advocates alike stressed the settlement does not replace broader groundwater management reforms. Experts quoted in the announcement urged statewide planning, regulatory and financial tools to prevent similar crises in other basins, and some called for the state legislature to enact comprehensive groundwater protections.
Cochise County Board of Supervisor Frank Antenori is one of those critics, saying he opposes this settlement because he thinks it sets a bad precedent, because it "calls out one business."
“There's a whole bunch of other entities out there as well that have been ignored," he said. "I mean, Riverview is a significant consumer of water, but there are quite a few other consumers of water that use a lot of water in this in this valley. But somehow those guys weren't, weren't brought into the equation.”
In a press release, Riverview stated, “Riverview values stewardship of the land and water – a healthy environment is essential to everything we do. That’s why we have invested and innovated over the past decade to ensure our farms in Cochise County are equipped with the best available technology to conserve water, as well as voluntarily fallowed farmland. Riverview also recognizes the water challenges facing the Sulphur Springs Valley, and we want to be part of the solution. Attorney General Mayes has helped highlight these challenges, and we appreciate her efforts in identifying these tangible steps to help Arizonans in need. By working together with state and local leaders, we can strengthen local water access and build a more sustainable future.”
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