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Water and environmental news

Saguaro cactus amid mid-afternoon sun.

Pima County heat program converts old Tucson jail facility into latest cooling center

Aug 6, 2024 Tucsonans now have access to a new cooling center at the Mission Annex facility — a former minimum-security jail — on the city’s west side.
A canyon of the San Juan River.

The Buzz: How the largest Indian water rights settlement in U.S. history aims to rectify historic wrongs

Aug 2, 2024 From nation building to water infrastructure, The Buzz explores the path towards water equity and one tribe's dream for true sovereignty.
<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.

Tucson Superfund Site cleanup stalled by U.S. Air Force

Aug 2, 2024 EPA urges action on PFAS contamination as Air Force faces penalties for delayed cleanup plan.
Tucson Water's Advanced Oxidation Process Treatment Facility located at 1110 W. Irvington Road Tucson, Ariz. This facility that is operated and maintained by Tucson Water was brought online in 2014, and works in conjunction with the adjacent Tucson Airport Remediation Project (TARP) to treat for trichloroethylene known as TCE, 1,4 dioxane and other volatile organic compounds.

Toxic Waters: EPA and military clash over Tucson’s groundwater cleanup

Jul 31, 2024 Families affected by cancer and premature deaths blame a history of polluted water in southern Tucson. The water utility is trying to clean up the problem.
Pinyon Plain Mine in Coconino County, on Wednesday, Aug. 30. In 1984, Energy Fuels Nuclear Inc, proposed to recover a uranium ore deposit nine miles south of the Grand Canyon. Formerly known as Canyon Mine, Pinyon Plain mine has not mined uranium ore to this day, due to low commercial uranium prices.

Navajo Nation President stops truck carrying uranium across tribal lands

Jul 30, 2024 The uranium ore was being transported to Utah, where the only fully-licensed and operating conventional uranium mill in the United States is.
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

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