CRIT Farms to invest $23 million, expand agriculture in La Paz County

CRIT Farms is set for a major overhaul around Parker, with the Colorado River Indian Tribes saying the operation will become ‘Amat Kuhwely and draw more than $23.7 million in new investment over the first two years. The tribe said the plan is aimed at bringing fallowed acreage back into production, improving water-use efficiency, and creating skilled trade and professional jobs tied to farming, infrastructure, and land development.

The rebrand is rooted in place as much as business. ‘Amat Kuhwely is the Mohave-language name for Parker, Arizona, and means “Where the Earth was Dug,” a name that connects the farm to the river corridor that has sustained the Colorado River Indian Reservation for generations. The reservation, established by Congress in 1865, stretches across land in Arizona and California and covers about 300,000 acres, with more than 113 miles of shoreline along the Colorado River. For the Mohave people, irrigated agriculture along the river dates back more than 4,000 years.

CRIT said the new venture, ‘Amat Kuhwely, LLC, will be majority-owned by the tribe and will work with Indigena Capital to finance the expansion. The tribe also said it will keep exclusive and sovereign control over its water while using outside capital to modernize the operation. That distinction matters in Parker and across La Paz County, where agriculture remains one of the most important engines of tribal revenue and local employment.

The scale of the farm business already is substantial. CRIT Farms has historically managed about 12,000 to 15,000 acres on average, while a 2023 report said farm manager Josh Moore oversaw 33,000 acres. Tribal partnership figures say CRIT water is used to irrigate roughly 80,000 acres of reservation farmland in Arizona and California, and the Colorado River Irrigation Project currently serves 79,350 acres. Alfalfa and cotton remain major crops, and alfalfa alone can require roughly 4 to 6 acre-feet per acre in a growing season, underscoring why water efficiency is central to the expansion.

The new investment builds on a broader shift in tribal water policy. On April 26, 2024, CRIT joined Arizona and federal officials at Bluewater Resort near Parker to sign agreements implementing the Colorado River Indian Tribes Water Resiliency Act of 2022. Those agreements gave the tribe new authority to lease, exchange or store portions of its Colorado River water entitlement off-reservation. Governor Katie Hobbs said CRIT played an important role in the 2019 Drought Contingency Plan to help stabilize Lake Mead. The latest farm expansion suggests the tribe is now trying to turn that water authority into long-term economic development, with more acreage, more work, and more control over agriculture in western La Paz County.