The Office of Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes has acknowledged community concerns regarding groundwater dewatering and water-quality impacts associated with the South32 Hermosa Project in Santa Cruz County, according to a statement released today by the Calabasas Alliance. The statement follows the submission of background information, data, and letters from community members, and signals growing official attention to the project's potential effects on Southern Arizona's water resources.
In its statement, the Attorney General's office said it closely monitors community concerns about dewatering and water-quality impacts and supports a careful, independent examination of the project's effects on Southern Arizona's water resources. The acknowledgment comes as local leaders and technical experts warn that high-volume dewatering could create a cone of depression that lowers groundwater levels, threatens wells and surface flows around Patagonia Lake, and necessitates immediate independent hydrologic analysis to secure protections before irreversible damage occurs.
Community members, technical experts, and researchers have identified gaps in assessing long-term dewatering effects, contaminant pathways, and cumulative impacts on aquifers and surface waters. Those gaps have prompted the Calabasas Alliance, a grassroots organization dedicated to protecting land, air, and water resources in Santa Cruz County and throughout Southern Arizona, to demand transparent, independently verified science rather than reliance on project-sponsored modeling. The group has been vocal in its call for rigorous scrutiny of the mine's water use and potential contamination risks.
The Attorney General's support for an independent examination is significant because it elevates a local dispute over water resources to the state level. For readers in Southern Arizona, the outcome could affect the reliability of wells and surface water supplies that communities, farms, and ecosystems depend on. For the mining industry, the case may set a precedent for how large projects are evaluated when their water use intersects with sensitive aquifers and public health concerns. The Alliance has requested that the full announcement, including downloadable images and bios, be made available for public review, which can be accessed by those interested in the details of the Attorney General's statement.
The Calabasas Alliance is a principal community partner for the Arizona State University/University of Arizona AirSMART air-quality monitoring program and a member of the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality Citizen Science Alliance. It recently received a mobile water-testing laboratory through Arizona State University's Water for All program and is a stakeholder in university forums on PFAS and the Arizona Rural Water Working Group. The organization collaborates with other groups around the state striving for similar natural resource protections, all with the health and well-being of their fellow citizens in mind. Those seeking more information about the Alliance's work can visit the Calabasas Alliance website.
The announcement was distributed through Newsworthy.ai, a platform that shares press releases and community announcements. As the Hermosa Project moves forward, the call for independent hydrologic analysis is likely to intensify, with implications for water policy, mining regulation, and community health in Arizona and beyond.
