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Water and environmental news

A Mexican wolf.

US proposes changes to Mexican gray wolf management

Oct 28, 2021 Officials argue removing population limits and setting goals for genetic diversity will help the endangered species.
The late-afternoon sun on Lake Powell, April 2018.

Drought projections show steadily dropping reservoirs

Oct 23, 2021 New measurements for drought conditions in the West are delivering a grim long-term forecast in the Colorado River basin.
Attorneys in Apache Stronghold v USA arguing their cases in front of U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit October 22, 2021.

Oak Flat appeal heard in U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit

Oct 22, 2021 Apache Stronghold's attorneys predict the court will rule on the case sometime next year. If favorable, it could pause the proposed mining project at the Apache sacred site.
Outside the Tucson Water building in downtown Tucson.

$1.7M in Air Force funds go to Central Tucson PFAS project

Oct 21, 2021 Efforts to address the water contaminates via the project began in 2020.
County officials and media tour a biogas refining plant at the Tres Rios Water Reclamation Facility, Oct. 21, 2021. The newly-dedicated plant will supply renewable natural gas, or RNG, to Southwest Gas, reducing the utility's demand for fossil-fuel based gas.

Biogas plant makes fuel, money for Pima County

Oct 21, 2021 Facility purifies waste methane for commercial use.
Lake Mead outside Las Vegas, Nevada, serves as the Colorado River's largest reservoir and a key water source for Arizona, California, Nevada and Mexico.

Forecasters expect drier, warmer winter in Southwest

Oct 21, 2021 Drought conditions are expected to continue or worsen across Arizona over the coming months.
The so-called bathtub ring in Lake Mead.

Vice president visits Lake Mead

Oct 18, 2021 Vice President Kamala Harris surveyed drought conditions and made a case for the Biden Administration’s infrastructure plans.
Arizona Game and Fish focuses on efforts to study and save the endangered humpback chub, a small fish that lives in the Little Colorado River in the Grand Canyon region.

U.S. formally removes Colorado River fish's endangered status

Oct 18, 2021 The humpback chub is one of about a dozen that are native to the Colorado River system and four that are currently endangered.
Wendsler Nosie Sr. at Southside Presbyterian Church October 13, 2021, during Apache Stronghold's "spiritual convoy" to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit concerning their motion for Temporary Restraining order and preliminary injunction at Oak Flat.

Ahead of hearing on Oak Flat, a 'spiritual convoy' travels to court

Oct 15, 2021 The nonprofit Apache Stronghold is traveling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in California to try and block copper mining at the Apache sacred site.
Endangered Gila topminnow being reintroduced to a new habitat at Mission Garden, March 2021.

Monsoon brings positive impact to Santa Cruz, other waterways

Oct 11, 2021 River watchers say the rainfall replenished aquifers and aided the fish population.
The Colorado River Basin continues to be sapped dry by increasing temperatures and diminished precipitation.

New water year begins with most of the basin in drought

Oct 7, 2021 Forecasters think this year will bring “La Niña” conditions, which tends to mean a warmer and drier winter for the Southwest.
A Tucson Unified School District Bus.

Tucson leaders push for electric school buses

Oct 6, 2021 Infrastructure bills include billions for zero-emission vehicles
Canada del Oro wash looking east from the bridge on La Cholla during Monsoon 2021.

How the monsoon season impacted life in Southern Arizona, from wildfires to bugs

Oct 1, 2021 The National Weather Service said the monsoon season was the third-wettest that Tucson has seen since 1895, and it followed an exceptionally dry year.
Four of Tucson's five new electric buses sit at a Sun Tran depot. They were unveiled on September 30th, 2021.

City of Tucson adds five new electric buses to fleet

Sep 30, 2021 City officials said it is part of a push to cut carbon emissions.

State stopped key groundwater monitoring, auditor general says

Sep 30, 2021 The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality has failed for years to monitor groundwater for pesticides and other contaminants, review found.
Crew members from Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's ship in the Sea of Cortez.

Mexico, Sea Shepherd reach agreement to return patrol ships to Sea of Cortez

Sep 27, 2021 Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s activist crews will once again patrol the Upper Gulf of California for fishing nets considered the leading threat to the vaquita marina porpoise.

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