Nathan Halverson

San Francisco

Reporter and Producer at Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting

Emmy Award winning investigative reporter and producer; hockey player; mushroom forager; not afraid of the deep snow

Articles

Arizona Sues Saudi-Owned Farm Draining Groundwater in the Desert

Dec 11, 2024 | revealnews.org | Nathan Halverson

Arizona’s attorney general has sued a Saudi-owned farm operating a massive hay operation in the middle of the Arizona desert, alleging that the business is hastening the loss of the rural community’s rapidly depleting groundwater supply. The farm owned by Fondomonte uses billions of gallons of groundwater in La Paz County each year to irrigate the desert to grow hay, which it then ships back to the Middle East to feed dairy cows.
Arizona Sues Saudi-Owned Farm Draining Groundwater in the Desert

Dec 11, 2024 | motherjones.com | Nathan Halverson

membership ticker Autocratic forces are ascendant. Truth-telling independent media is one remaining bulwark against an autocrat’s unrestrained exercise of power. At a time when billionaire owners of corporate media are making accommodations to political leaders, our nonprofit newsroom cannot be bought, bent, or broken. Depend on it, and please stand with us. Autocratic forces are ascendant in America.
6 biggest revelations from "The Grab"

Jun 17, 2024 | inkl.com | Nathan Halverson

The next world war may be fought over food and water. That’s what agripreneur Edward Hargroves predicts in “The Grab,” a new documentary thriller from “Blackfish” director Gabriela Cowperthwaite.
In the Arizona desert, wells run dry as foreign-owned farms make bank

Jun 8, 2024 | revealnews.org | Nathan Halverson |Michael Montgomery |Cynthia Rodriguez |Nikki Frick

For years, a Saudi-owned hay farm has been using massive amounts of water in the middle of the Arizona desert and exporting the hay back to Saudi Arabia. The farm’s water use has attracted national attention and criticism since Reveal’s Nate Halverson and Ike Sriskandarajah first broke this story more than eight years ago. Since then, the water crisis in the American West has only worsened as megafarms have taken hold there.
Water scarcity, water security, climate change, Arizona, Middle East

Aug 23, 2023 | homelandsecuritynewswire.com | Nathan Halverson

WATER SECUERITYState Pension Fund is Helping a Middle Eastern Firm Export Arizona’s Precious GroundwaterPublished 23 August 2023As rural Arizonans face the prospect of wells running dry, foreign firms are sucking up vast amounts of the state’s groundwater to grow hay for Saudi Arabia and other wealthy nations. The state’s retirement system invested heavily in a private land deal that allowed a foreign company to effectively ship Arizona’s scarce water supply overseas.
State pension fund helping a Middle Eastern firm export Arizona groundwater

Aug 15, 2023 | tucsonsentinel.com | Nathan Halverson

Nathan HalversonReveal As rural Arizonans face the prospect of wells running dry, foreignfirms are sucking up vast amounts of the state’s groundwater to grow hayfor Saudi Arabia and other wealthy nations. Now it turns out that a keyinvestor in this water transfer scheme is Arizona’s own employeeretirement fund.
Colonialism Set the Stage for the Wildfire Destruction of Maui

Aug 14, 2023 | truthout.org | Amy Goodman |Kwolanne Felix |Sharon Zhang |Nathan Halverson

The death toll from the Maui wildfires is now about 100 and is expected to continue to climb in what is now the deadliest U.S. wildfire in a century and the worst natural disaster in Hawaii’s history. As recovery efforts continue, many residents are asking why Hawaii’s early warning system, with about 80 alarms on the island of Maui alone, did not get activated to alert residents about the approaching flames.
State Pension Fund Is Helping a Middle Eastern Firm Export Arizona’s Precious Groundwater

Aug 10, 2023 | motherjones.com | Nathan Halverson

This article is a collaboration between Mother Jones and Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting, a nonprofit investigative newsroom. Also listen to Reveal’s accompanying podcast, “The Great Arizona Water Grab.” As rural Arizonans face the prospect of wells running dry, foreign firms are sucking up vast amounts of the state’s groundwater to grow hay for Saudi Arabia and other wealthy nations.
The Great Arizona Water Grab

Jul 29, 2023 | revealnews.org | Nathan Halverson |Michael Montgomery |Ike Sriskandarajah |Cynthia Rodriguez

A Saudi-owned farm in the middle of the Arizona desert has attracted national attention and criticism since Reveal’s Nate Halverson and Ike Sriskandarajah first broke this story eight years ago. The farm is using massive amounts of water to grow hay and export it to Saudi Arabia in the midst of a water crisis in the American West. Since then, megafarms have taken hold here. And the trend isn’t fueled just by foreign companies.
‘The Grab’ | Conspiring to Control the World’s Food and Water

Nov 30, 2022 | kosmosjournal.org | Nathan Halverson