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Water and environmental news

The late-afternoon sun on Lake Powell, April 2018.

Capacity at Lake Powell continues to shrink

Mar 24, 2022 A high-tech combination of aerial and underwater radar found that the reservoir can hold 7% less water than when it was built.
A canal carries Colorado River water to farmland near Poston, Arizona, owned and operated by the Colorado River Indian Tribes, a key player in Arizona's Drought Contingency Plan.

U.S. Senate committee to hear testimony on tribal water rights

Mar 22, 2022 The chairwoman of the Colorado River Indian Tribes is in Washington, D.C., this week to testify for a bill that would allow her tribe to lease its water to other parts of Arizona.
A sprawling swath of the West is in drought, with more than 20 years of dryness in the Colorado River basin. Researchers say nearly every indicator of drought is heading in the wrong direction.

Drought to continue, NOAA says

Mar 17, 2022 Dryness and above average temperatures bring wildfire danger.
The San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area.

Property owners can learn about their water rights with new map

Mar 17, 2022 The map covers sections of the Verde and San Pedro River watersheds.
The H.Wilson Sundt Generating Station at 3950 E. Irvington Road is seen in this image from a Tucson Electric Power video on YouTube.

Tucson Electric Power plant emissions upgrade scheduled

Mar 16, 2022 Pima County seeks public comment on NOx reduction plan.
A Mexican gray wolf

Mexican wildlife managers release 2 pairs of wolves

Mar 9, 2022 The wolves came from the Ladder Ranch in southern New Mexico and were placed in two areas in the state of Chihuahua.
A fourth grade class from Lulu Walker Elementary School learns about the water cycle at Tucson Water's annual Water Festival on March 8th, 2022.

Tucson 4th graders learn about the water cycle and conservation at water festival

Mar 8, 2022 This is the 13th year Tucson Water has held the event.
Tucson City Hall seen from El Presidio Plaza.

Tucson hires consulting firm to work on Climate Action Plan

Mar 7, 2022 The city will pay the firm $400,000
The late-afternoon sun on Lake Powell, April 2018.

Lake Powell set to drop below important water level in the 'near future'

Mar 6, 2022 The level is nearly too low to generate hydropower.
The city is reducing curbside recycling pickup in an effort to save money and adapt to global shifts in the industry.

Recycling on Tucson's curbs and beyond

Mar 4, 2022 This week, The Buzz revisits the city's decision to end curbside glass recycling.
The Colorado River Basin continues to be sapped dry by increasing temperatures and diminished precipitation.

UN climate report says drought, earlier runoff will make water scarce this summer

Mar 2, 2022 A new report from the United Nations’ panel on climate change lays out a grim picture of the future.
One of four cactus ferruginous pygmy owls to be born at the Phoenix Zoo, 2019.

Pygmy owl could get protections again; comment period ends Feb. 22

Feb 20, 2022 The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to list a tiny desert owl as a threatened species.
A research station collects snow data in Colorado's San Juan mountains, March 2018.

For much of the Colorado River basin, a dry start to the new year has lingered

Feb 19, 2022 The winter season is far from over, but another dry year would spell trouble for the drought-stricken river basin, which depends heavily on winter snow.
The vaquita is a critically endangered porpoise that lives in the northern part of the Sea of Cortez. It is considered the smallest and most endangered cetacean in the world.

U.S. files complaint citing Mexico's lack of protections for vaquita marina porpoise

Feb 15, 2022 In the first environmental complaint under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the U.S. is calling for a consultation with Mexico over protections for a critically endangered porpoise.
A sprawling swath of the West is in drought, with more than 20 years of dryness in the Colorado River basin. Researchers say nearly every indicator of drought is heading in the wrong direction.

Western drought worst in 1000 years

Feb 14, 2022 Scientists say this is the worst case scenario.
A juvenile Sonoran desert tortoise takes in the sun in the Tucson Mountains.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service won't list Sonoran desert tortoise as endangered

Feb 8, 2022 The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says after conducting a scientific review, it will not list the Sonoran desert tortoise under the Endangered Species Act.

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