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Nature and Environment

Tucson Mayor Regina Romero speaks with Federal Transit Regional Administrator Ray Tellis ahead of a press conference on the new investment in transit infrastructure.

Tucson receives $11M for bus stop shelters, trees and more

Jul 11, 2024 Tucson’s Sun Tran system is receiving more than $11 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation. The money is meant to fortify transit infrastructure and help protect vulnerable communities from the effects of climate change.
Monsoon rain over Tucson.

Monsoon storm activity picking up late in the week

Jul 10, 2024 Some areas in Southeastern Arizona could see wind gusts up to 70 miles per hour.
1975 Zoo Staff, Barry Ames, Joanna Gradillas, Marc Bruns, Angela Stewart, Alex Flores, Mike Flint, Ms. Boyle, Ann Dery, Sandra Hein, Gale Ferrick, Al Gallego, Shanda Martin, Kathy Kuehn, Garland Godbehere.

Taking the camel to the drive-in: David Leighton's history of the Reid Park Zoo

Jul 10, 2024 Also on Arizona Spotlight: Visit the Word of Mouth Print Space; celebrate imagination at the Library's Megamania!! Festival; and meet the founder of the Naco Wellness Initiative.
The Colorado River, just north of the Navajo Bridge in Northern Arizona.

Arizona congressional delegation introduces $5 billion tribal water rights legislation

Jul 8, 2024 The legislation would ratify a settlement agreement that was approved by each of the tribes in May.
Walking down the road near the Bear Canyon Trail in the Sabino Canyon Recreation Area, February 2018.

Public meeting will discuss new Sabino Canyon visitor center

Jul 8, 2024 The Thursday meeting will include a first look at initial plans for the redesign
A sprinkler runs on a hot day in Phoenix.

Tucson's new conservation program aims to save water by removing ornamental grass

Jul 8, 2024 Apartment complexes and commercial buildings are being urged to remove grass landscaping and conserve water — in exchange for a rebate from the city.
The sun blazes before it begins to set.

Pima County heat-related deaths in June topped 2023's totals

Jul 8, 2024 Days with high temperatures also saw a notable increase from the previous year.
The summer sun hangs over cacti in Tucson.

Persistent heat wave in the US expected to shatter new records as it bakes West and swelters in East

Jul 7, 2024 Phoenix topped out at 114 F, just shy of the record of 116 F dating to 1942.
This undated photo provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service shows a humpback chub in the Colorado River basin in Grand Canyon National Park in Ariz. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation says on Wednesday, it has wrapped up its environmental review of a plan to help the humpback chub and other protected fish in northern Arizona.

US agency to fight invasive bass threatening humpback chub, other protected fish in Grand Canyon

Jul 4, 2024 It is the latest move in a battle to keep non-native smallmouth bass and green sunfish at bay in an area of the Colorado River below the Glen Canyon Dam.
Katia Lamer, director for the Center for Multiscale Applied Sensing at the Brookhaven National Laboratory who leads the team that drives the mobile weather trucks on Tuesday, July 2, at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Ariz. Lamer says the lack of climate data can make it difficult to quantify inequities in regional heat and air quality.

Arizona researchers tackle urban heat with innovative weather data collection

Jul 2, 2024 UA team partners with DOE’s Brookhaven Lab to study and mitigate extreme heat in the Southwest.
U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development administrator Andy Berke and Patrick Ledger, Arizona Generation and Transmission Cooperatives’ CEO, cut the ribbon to a new battery energy storage system in Sahuarita, AZ on Tuesday, July 2, 2024.

$55.2 million to boost clean energy in rural Arizona with new battery systems

Jul 2, 2024 Federal funding will support three new battery energy storage facilities, lower energy bills, create jobs, and promote sustainability in cities like Sahuarita.
The Boulder Fire near Carefree, AZ on June 28, 2024

Arizona wildfire advances after forcing evacuations near Phoenix

Jun 29, 2024 As of Saturday night the fire was 0% contained.
The Arizona state Capitol on March 3, 2020.

The Buzz: The coming state budget has its critics

Jun 28, 2024 Worries about shorted funding, misallocated funds and existing problems cause concern for some.
Sandy Bahr, director of the Grand Canyon Chapter of the Sierra Club (left) and Carletta Tilousi, Havasupai tribal member and leader (right) hand off over 17,000 petition signatures to Governor Katie Hobbs, urging her to shut down the Pinyon Plain uranium mine outside of the Grand Canyon on Thursday, June 27, in Phoenix, Ariz. This follows a letter sent to the governor earlier this year, which requested her action to limit the mine's activities to closure and maintenance activities.

Activists submit 17,000 signatures urging closure of uranium mine near Grand Canyon

Jun 28, 2024 Groups like the Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity along with Tribal members say the mine risks drinking water.
Downtown Phoenix viewed from City Hall on March 4, 2024. The city's water leaders say they're nearing the ceiling on how much water can be saved through traditional conservation, and are instead turning their eyes and budgets toward new technology that will help decrease demand for water from the Colorado River and underground aquifers.

Does Arizona have enough water?

Jun 25, 2024 Phoenix-area cities are spending big to make sure it does.
Water from the Colorado River flows through an irrigation canal at an alfalfa farm near Eloy, Arizona.

The Buzz: Efforts to reduce our use of finite resources

Jun 21, 2024 We look at efforts to reduce the use of plastic, water and fossil fuels.

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Environment,
State & National Parks,
Water,
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