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Water and environmental news

A sonoran pronghorn in a field in Southern Arizona.

Committee urges U.S. and Mexico to protect UNESCO World Heritage site from border wall damage

Jul 26, 2024 The UNESCO World Heritage Committee is calling on the U.S. and Mexico to work together to assess and mitigate impacts of the border wall on wildlife of the Sonoran desert, especially the endangered Sonoran pronghorn.
The Colorado River, just north of the Navajo Bridge in Northern Arizona.

Tribal leaders advocate for historic water rights settlement in DC

Jul 25, 2024 Navajo and Hopi leaders urged Congress to pass a bill addressing their water crisis, proposing a $1.75 billion pipeline to bring Colorado River water to their communities.
ByBlocks, produced by ByFusion from non-recyclable plastic waste.

Changes to Tucson’s hard to recycle plastic program in effect

Jul 24, 2024 Plastic items must now be placed in Hefty Renew orange bags.
Arizona has long been a hotspot for golfers looking to keep up their game as weather elsewhere turns cold. But, for just as long, the state has been working to limit water use by golf courses. How much of a part does golf play in Arizona's water issues?

Dry but alive: Rethinking golf's green lawns

Jul 24, 2024 Golf is a commonly blamed culprit of Arizona's water woes. How much water goes to the state's courses?
A male elegant trogon displays some of the colors that have made it very attractive for birders.

Tucson Audubon Society Gets Closer to choosing a New Name

Jul 24, 2024 Organization wants a future without the controversial "Audubon" associations
<a href="https://map22.epa.gov/cimc/superfundZoom&params=0900684&15" target="_blank" style="font-weight:700;margin-right:6px">VIEW THIS MAP FULLSCREEN IN A NEW WINDOW</a>The ten square-mile Tucson International Airport Area Superfund Site is depicted using orange diagonal lines. The site includes Tucson International Airport, Sections of the Tohono O'odham Nation (San Xavier District), Tucson and South Tucson residential areas, and Air Force Plant #44 Raytheon Missile Systems Company (AFP44). The site has contaminated groundwater and soil from former aircraft and electronics manufacturing and aircraft maintenance, fire drill trainings, and the leaking of chemicals from unlined landfills.

US Air Force challenges EPA’s emergency order on PFAS cleanup at Tucson Superfund Site

Jul 23, 2024 Military contests EPA’s jurisdiction and urgency of PFAS threats at Tucson site.
A monsoon storm drops localized, heavy rainfall over northwest Tucson, Marana, and Oro Valley. From August 2022.

AZPM’s Mini Severe Storm Guide

Jul 22, 2024 Fast-escalating storm causes widespread damage and power outages, prompting questions about monsoon season and climate change
The negotiators who wrote the Colorado River Compact pose for a photo in 1922. They were deliberate in choosing their words, which still shape a river that supplies 40 million people more than a century later.

These three words from 1922 are at the heart of the latest Colorado River clash

Jul 22, 2024 It’s all rooted in a document called the Colorado River Compact.
The Parker Dam in Arizona looking towards California. The electric transmission lines from the dam are all on the California side and provide power to the Golden State. The construction of the dam formed Lake Havasu.

The Buzz: The damming of the lower Colorado River

Jul 19, 2024 We preview the new season of Tapped, AZPM's podcast about water in the southwest.
The Parker Dam in Arizona looking towards California. The electric transmission lines from the dam are all on the California side and provide power to the Golden State. The construction of the dam formed Lake Havasu.

Taming the Colorado

Jul 17, 2024 The Colorado River is the most dammed waterway in the US, but what was it like before? We go back to the battle over Parker Canyon Dam and how it changed Arizona's rights to the river's water forever.
Many Southern Arizona residents employ water-saving techniques, like rainwater harvest.

The Buzz: Re-using finite resources in Southern Arizona

Jul 12, 2024 People go to notable lengths to get as much as they can out of some of the area's limited resources
Tucson Mayor Regina Romero speaks with Federal Transit Regional Administrator Ray Tellis ahead of a press conference on the new investment in transit infrastructure.

Tucson receives $11M for bus stop shelters, trees and more

Jul 11, 2024 Tucson’s Sun Tran system is receiving more than $11 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation. The money is meant to fortify transit infrastructure and help protect vulnerable communities from the effects of climate change.
The Colorado River, just north of the Navajo Bridge in Northern Arizona.

Arizona congressional delegation introduces $5 billion tribal water rights legislation

Jul 8, 2024 The legislation would ratify a settlement agreement that was approved by each of the tribes in May.
Walking down the road near the Bear Canyon Trail in the Sabino Canyon Recreation Area, February 2018.

Public meeting will discuss new Sabino Canyon visitor center

Jul 8, 2024 The Thursday meeting will include a first look at initial plans for the redesign
A sprinkler runs on a hot day in Phoenix.

Tucson's new conservation program aims to save water by removing ornamental grass

Jul 8, 2024 Apartment complexes and commercial buildings are being urged to remove grass landscaping and conserve water — in exchange for a rebate from the city.
This undated photo provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service shows a humpback chub in the Colorado River basin in Grand Canyon National Park in Ariz. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation says on Wednesday, it has wrapped up its environmental review of a plan to help the humpback chub and other protected fish in northern Arizona.

US agency to fight invasive bass threatening humpback chub, other protected fish in Grand Canyon

Jul 4, 2024 It is the latest move in a battle to keep non-native smallmouth bass and green sunfish at bay in an area of the Colorado River below the Glen Canyon Dam.

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