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White Mountain Apache Chairwoman Gwendena Lee-Gatewood, left, and Colorado River Indian Tribes Chairwoman Amelia Flores testify in a March hearing where they urged members of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee to back water legislation critical to their tribes. The committee gave preliminary approval to the bills Wednesday.

After long fight, tribal water bills get primary OK; still far from final

Nov 19, 2022 Tribal leaders welcomed the votes, which they called the culmination of hard-fought struggles by their tribes.
Since the 1980s Tucsonans have replaced their green lawns with decomposed granite and opted for plants like palo verde trees and cacti, which can endure long periods of drought and extreme heat.

Phoenix and Las Vegas agree to get rid of decorative grass

Nov 18, 2022 The worsening drought brought the agreement from 30 western water agencies.
Protests against the Resolution Copper mine near Oak Flat have been going for years, as shown in this 2015 file photo from a rally at the Capitol.

Tribe continues fight against proposed Arizona copper mine

Nov 17, 2022 The Arizona Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that the state Department of Environmental Quality illegally issued a Clean Water Act permit for the proposed Resolution Copper Mine.
Two Sandhill cranes fly above their wintering grounds in Cochise County. Experts from the Arizona Game and Fish Department estimated more than 27,000 individuals were in the area in January 2020.

Sandhill cranes return to wintering grounds in southeastern Arizona

Nov 11, 2022 People can watch from home on AZ Game and Fish live stream.
The revived "heritage" stretch of the Santa Cruz River now flows north of Starr Pass/22nd Street all the way to Congress Street.

Insects find a new home on Santa Cruz River

Nov 10, 2022 It has been two years since a new species has moved to the area.
The Central Arizona Project moves water from the Colorado River to southern Arizona. July 2021

Ex-Reclamation commissioner to head CAP

Nov 5, 2022 Burman led the Bureau of Reclamation from 2017 to early 2021 under the Trump administration.
Members of the Supreme Court sit for a new group portrait following the addition of Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, at the Supreme Court building in Washington, Friday, Oct. 7, 2022. Bottom row, from left, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts, Justice Samuel Alito, and Justice Elena Kagan. Top row, from left, Justice Amy Coney Barrett, Justice Neil Gorsuch, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.

High court to hear water dispute between Navajo, government

Nov 4, 2022 The high court said Friday it would review a lower court ruling in favor of the Navajo Nation, which spans parts of Arizona, Utah and New Mexico.

Javelinas trick for treats: carved pumpkins in danger of being eaten

Oct 31, 2022 The Halloween tradition of jack-o-lanterns can lure javelinas to neighborhoods for an evening snack.
Jessie Dwyer, biodiversity manager at McDowell Sonoran Conservancy, demonstrates how a transmitter and GPS tracker are affixed to the wild tortoises in the study. Photo taken Sept. 30, 2022, in Scottsdale.

Slow, steady and high tech: Study using GPS to track Sonoran desert tortoises

Oct 29, 2022 Sonoran desert tortoises can hold water for up to a year, Rubke said. That matters given that Arizona is in a megadrought.
Water levels are at record lows and still dropping in the nation's largest reservoirs. The federal government began the process of restricting water releases from Glen Canyon Dam, which holds back a shrinking Lake Powell.

Feds want the ability to cut back on Colorado River reservoir releases over the next two years

Oct 28, 2022 On Friday, the Interior Department began the process of revising existing guidelines for water management in the Colorado River basin.
A canal carries water from the Colorado River to tribal land in Arizona.

Lower Colorado River reservoir evaporation the focus of new analysis

Oct 27, 2022 If implemented in its current form, the proposal would translate to significant cutbacks for users in Nevada, Arizona, and California.
Statue of the short-faced bear at Lubbock Lake Landmark, a natural history museum in Lubbock, Texas.

"Chasing the Ghost Bear: On the Trail of America’s Lost Super Beast" with author Mike Stark.

Oct 20, 2022 Also on Arizona Spotlight: A young Arizona filmmaker who makes epics in miniature, and Susan Cummins Miller on "Making Silent Stones Sing".
Postal bins with tags for ballots in the 2020 general election.

Cochise County officials say 550 voters got wrong ballot

Oct 18, 2022 Some voters should have been given a ballot with a question about water management.
Strong Arm, a well-known saguaro cactus in the Tortolita Preserve near Marana, was estimated to be 150 to 200 years old and 40 feet tall when it toppled during an August storm. But the actual cause of death was Erwinia cacticida, a bacteria that causes saguaros to rot and ooze a thick, black liquid.

Iconic Strong Arm was one of many saguaros killed by climate change, deadly bacteria

Oct 15, 2022 For close to two centuries, Strong Arm stood sentinel over the Tortolita Preserve near Marana.
Michael Connor, assistant secretary for the Army for Civil Works, back to camera, Tempe water engineering manager Mark Weber and U.S. Rep. Greg Stanton, D-Phoenix, gather Sept. 1, 2022, in front of the Kyrene Water Reclamation Facility. Stanton is working to secure $37.5 million in federal funds to rehabilitate the plant.

Tempe plans to reopen long dormant water reclamation plant amid grinding drought

Oct 10, 2022 The recession caused its closure but the drought is changing plans.
Monsoon rain over Tucson.

2022 "Monsoon Madness" names a decisive winner

Oct 6, 2022 The victor successfully predicted rainfall totals during another active season.

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