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Water and environmental news

Bands of discolored rock show that Lake Powell's water levels are lower than they have been for much of its past.

When a reservoir is more than just stored water

Oct 11, 2023 Reservoirs are a common solution to the seasonal ebbs and flows of river water. But, for some communities, they are so much more.
Effluent gushes out of the outfall, into the Santa Cruz River. The outfall of water is constantly flowing, but there is a diurnal fluctuation due to cyclical human water use.

Reviving the Santa Cruz River: A decade of clean waters and ecological resurgence

Oct 10, 2023 From stagnation to splendor: How wastewater innovation breathed life back into a desert oasis
San Pedro River pre-Monsoon rains. August 15, 2023.

Water and housing redux

Oct 10, 2023 The story of a home development in Cochise County has taken a second big turn since we published Episode 4 of this series, so Summer Hom is back with the latest on this ongoing saga.
Border Patrol agents patrol along a line of shipping containers stacked near the border Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2022, near Yuma, Ariz.

Arizona border wall lawsuits dismissed, paving the way for environmental restoration

Oct 5, 2023 From legal resolution to environmental revival: Arizona's next chapter
The San Pedro River post-Monsoon rain. September 14, 2023.

Major housing development backs out shortly after San Pedro is assigned water rights

Oct 5, 2023 Developer Castle and Cooke pulled the plug on a subdivison that would have added just shy of 7,000 homes
An alfalfa field in Marana, AZ bordered by I-10. September 2023

Hobbs Terminates Fondomonte Lease to Protect Arizona Water

Oct 3, 2023 Critics of Fondomonte LLC say the company has been allowed to exploit Arizona’s water laws.
ADWR Director of Active Management Areas Natalie Mast (right) and Arizona State Representative Gail Griffin (R-19, left) talk prior to ADWR's meeting in Douglas Thursday. September 28, 2023. *Photo by Summer Hom, AZPM News.*

Douglas AMA management goal under review, workshops ahead for management plan

Oct 2, 2023 ADWR officals say that those with non-exempt wells must apply for a grandfathered right by March 1 in order to continue legally withdrawing groundwater from the basin
Snow tops Mica Mountain, a peak in the Rincon range east of Tucson.

Tucson area experiences earthquake centered near Saguaro National Park-Rincon District

Sep 29, 2023 Early morning tremors leave Tucsonans wondering about seismic activity
Male jaguar photographed in the Dos Cabezas Mountains Nov, 16, 2016.

Rare jaguar sighting sparks excitement in Arizona's Huachuca Mountains

Sep 28, 2023 Jaguar 3 'Sombra' possibly resurfaces in the Sierra Vista Ranger District in the Coronado National Forest
Almost 100 years after the opening of Bisbee's Queen Mine, the Queen Mine Tours opened to the public in 1976. About 50,000 people visit the mine each year.

Water and Copper: How mining's history follows Arizona's feelings about water use in the state

Sep 27, 2023 Mining was Arizona's first billion-dollar industry. As we consider our state's economic drivers and their water use, we ask not only how much water goes into mining but what its aftermath does to water.
The San Pedro River post-Monsoon rain. September 14, 2023.

Housing and Water: How government, environmentalists and developers shape Arizona homes

Sep 20, 2023 The state's mild winters are often a plus for people who move here. So how does that growing population interact with a shrinking water supply?
The view of the Tucson Skyline from A Mountain. Oct. 23, 2019.

Tucson Air Quality Among the Best In the West

Sep 11, 2023 Tied for 4th among 12 Western Cities
A Widow Skimmer dragonfly perches on a plant on the Santa Cruz River in Tucson, Ariz. The 2023 Dragonfly BioBlitz is hoping to document the return of insects like this to the restored Santa Cruz River.

Dragonfly BioBlitz celebrates the return of vital insects to Santa Cruz River

Sep 11, 2023 Researchers are telling Tucson residents to look for dragonflies and damselflies as part of a community science project.
The Patagonia Mountains in Southern Arizona, taken in January 2006.

Judge blocks injunction, allowing for exploratory mining in Patagonia Mountains

Sep 8, 2023 The eight environmental justice groups have moved to file an appeal.
The U.S. - Mexico Border Wall near Sierra Vista.

Congressional watchdog describes border wall harm, says agencies should work together to ease damage

Sep 7, 2023 A report released by the Government Accountability Office offers the first independent assessment of damage caused by the building of more than 450 miles of wall.
An alfalfa field in Marana, AZ bordered by I-10. September 2023

Why is alfalfa one of Arizona's biggest crops?

Sep 6, 2023 Three of the 5 Cs that traditionally made up Arizona's economy have to do with agriculture. So how is that industry doing as water gets scarce?

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