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Nature and Environment

Part of the Contreras Fire burning near the Kitt Peak Nationla Observatory on June 16, 2022.

Contreras Fire listed as 100% contained

Jun 24, 2022 Local management team will hand over control Saturday.
Part of the Contreras Fire burning near the Kitt Peak Nationla Observatory on June 16, 2022.

Officials expect wet weather as Contreras Fire passes 20,000 acres

Jun 20, 2022 Fire continues to spread toward the northeast
Kitt Peak observatory on June 19, 2022

Contreras Fire burns more than 18,000 acres

Jun 19, 2022 Fire managers say the fire is more than 40% contained.
Lake Mead and the rest of the Colorado River system are shrinking rapidly. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has called for new conservation measures, asking states to conserve a tremendously large amount of water, and giving them a 60-day timeline to formulate a plan for those reductions.

Under federal pressure, Colorado River water managers face unprecedented call for conservation

Jun 18, 2022 States have 60 days to craft a deal.
Tucson baker extraordinaire, Don Guerra.

A grassroots Tucson baker wins a national award for excellence.

Jun 16, 2022 Also on Arizona Spotlight: Renowned author Tom Miller reads from "Where Was I? A Travel Writer's Memoir"; Adiba Nelson shares truth about her first day on the job as a new mother; and remembering cowboy poet & philosopher Baxter Black.
Smoke from wildfires in Flagstaff billows over the San Francisco mountains. June 13, 2022

Northern Arizona watches winds as Western wildfires blaze

Jun 14, 2022 Three fires are burning near Flagstaff.
Experts say car batteries last for only three years in desert heat.

Southern Arizona heat takes annual toll on car batteries

Jun 13, 2022 Experts say motorists should plan to buy a new one every 3 years.
Sweetwater wetlands.

Rare Arizona plant now on endangered list

Jun 10, 2022 The plant depends on wetlands for survival

Summer heat arrives

Jun 10, 2022 Experts talk about increasing heat in urban heat islands and the history of air conditioning.

Hot Tucson weather expected to lead to season's first monsoon activity

Jun 9, 2022 Forecasters say southern Arizona will get most of the state's rainfall this season.
Anastasia Rabin owns land in the Douglas Basin and says she knew water scarcity could be a problem when she moved here, but didn't realize it would become such a big problem so soon.

Residents in Cochise County organize vote to establish water regulation

Jun 7, 2022 Many in the Douglas and Willcox Basins say their wells are going dry as big business moves in around them
Flames from the Obi Fire run parallel to a highway. Lightning sparked the fire near Walhalla Plateau in Arizona on July 21, 2018.

Here's how to help prevent wildfires this summer

Jun 2, 2022 Just over half of wildfires in the Southwest are human-caused.
Former Mexican Security Secretary Alfonso Durazo was elected governor of the state of Sonora in June 2021.

Sonora governor: Desalination will have to be part of state water supply

May 31, 2022 With at least a dozen neighborhoods in Hermosillo already experiencing water shortages this summer, the state is confronting a future without enough water for residents.
Water levels in Lake Powell are dipping dangerously close to "dead pool," at which point it becomes impossible to generate hydropower at the Glen Canyon dam. Experts think the reservoir could reach those levels within a year.

Hydropower customers could pay extra fees

May 26, 2022 Federal law requires fees be paid whether or not dams are generating power.
"A Man's Man", a short film featured in "I Dream in Widescreen 2022".

"I Dream in Widescreen 2022" is a feast for the mind's eye.

May 24, 2022 Also on Arizona Spotlight: How a lone graduate student provides top-notch COVID date from Sonora; Live Theatre Workshop's "Body Awareness" initiates some challenging conversations; and Wiley Ray and his Big O Band spread the legacy of Roy Orbison.
The proposed site of the Rosemont Copper Mine.

Hudbay wins a round in court

May 24, 2022 A judge ruled the Rosemont and Copper World mines are not legally related.

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State & National Parks,
Water,
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