I was reading yesterday about water rights issues in New Mexico. There is a movement among local ranchers- this is in the west/central part of the state, close to the Arizona border- to stop foreign 'speculators' and other commercial interests from drilling for water on the Plains of San Agustin.
That area was apparently a huge lake for a very long time (until a very long time ago), and there is a tremendous amount of water underground. The ranchers rely on this water and the resultant springs, etc...and are afraid that these outside interests will drain the water, then sell it back to them. Or at the very least, use it up.
That was what happened on the Navajo Nation and the Hopi reservation in Arizona. In that case, the coal mine on Black Mesa used up a billion gallons of ground water every year and eventually the springs in that part of the world all dried up. Those springs were not only the only water source for several thousand people and their livestock, but they have religious significance to the Hopi as well.