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Nature and Environment

Flaming Gorge Reservoir stores water in Wyoming and Utah.

Amid dropping water levels in Lake Powell, another ‘short-term fix’ is on the way

Apr 22, 2022 Upper Colorado River Basis states reach a deal.
A solar array used by Tucson Electric Power to add renewable energy to the grid, August 2019

How Arizona gets its energy

Apr 22, 2022 This week, The Buzz focuses on electricity — how it’s created and where it’s needed.
Cars moving through Tucson.

Pima County gets poor marks for ozone pollution

Apr 21, 2022 Maricopa, Pinal counties again rank among the worst in the country for ozone pollution in an annual report from the American Lung Association.
Gov. Ducey's desalination plant proposal is designed to relieve pressure on water supplied by Lake Mead.

Ducey desalination proposal carries hefty price tag

Apr 18, 2022 Experts think it will cost $60 million a year to operate.
Water levels in Lake Powell, seen here in May 2021, are dipping dangerously low. The federal government has proposed an unprecedented plan to cut back on water supplies for Arizona, Nevada and California. The measure aims to keep water levels high enough to generate hydropower at the Glen Canyon Dam.

Lake Powell is critically low, and still shrinking. Here’s what happens next

Apr 16, 2022 The future of the reservoir is largely uncertain, but climate science and recent actions by the government are providing some hints as to what might happen in the near future.
The late-afternoon sun on Lake Powell, April 2018.

Interior Department considers emergency cutbacks to water supplies

Apr 12, 2022 Reductions would be felt most sharply in Central Arizona.
A group walks through the desert from Punta Chueca toward Saaps, where the Comcaac Nation held a historic gathering to demand water on March 27, 2021.

Comcaac Nation in Sonora renews historic march to ancestral site

Apr 11, 2022 An Indigenous nation in Sonora held a historic gathering last year to demand water for their communities on the Sea of Cortez. Now, they’re meeting again. This time in honor of their ancestors.
Tucson Water

Judge rejects arbitration for Tucson water rate dispute

Apr 8, 2022 The county is suing to reverse the rate increase, claiming it is discriminatory.
The vaquita is a critically endangered porpoise that lives in the northern part of the Sea of Cortez. It is considered the smallest and most endangered cetacean in the world.

Conservation group says waters less risky for endangered vaquita porpoise

Apr 5, 2022 The group partnered with the Mexican Navy to bring down the number of fishing nets in Mexico's Vaquita Refuge
Chiricahua National Monument.

Senate votes to make Arizona monument a national park

Apr 4, 2022 Chiricahua National Monument encompasses more than 12,000 acres.
Rush Dougherty looks on as Leaf owner David Gebert checks out his electric car. Both men are members of TEVA, the Tucson Electric Vehicle Association.

No 'pain at the pump' for a small percentage of Arizona drivers

Apr 2, 2022 Electric vehicle owners aren't shocked by gasoline prices.
A scientist releases a bucket of longfin dace into the Santa Cruz River on March 23rd, 2022.

Longfin dace return to lower Santa Cruz River

Mar 25, 2022 The dace were last in the area over a century ago.

U.S. Senate committee hears 2 bills on tribal water rights in Arizona

Mar 24, 2022 CRIT Chairwoman Amelia Flores said her tribe has already helped to stave off the effects of a historic drought by fallowing its fields and taking other measures.
The late-afternoon sun on Lake Powell, April 2018.

Capacity at Lake Powell continues to shrink

Mar 24, 2022 A high-tech combination of aerial and underwater radar found that the reservoir can hold 7% less water than when it was built.
A canal carries Colorado River water to farmland near Poston, Arizona, owned and operated by the Colorado River Indian Tribes, a key player in Arizona's Drought Contingency Plan.

U.S. Senate committee to hear testimony on tribal water rights

Mar 22, 2022 The chairwoman of the Colorado River Indian Tribes is in Washington, D.C., this week to testify for a bill that would allow her tribe to lease its water to other parts of Arizona.
A sprawling swath of the West is in drought, with more than 20 years of dryness in the Colorado River basin. Researchers say nearly every indicator of drought is heading in the wrong direction.

Drought to continue, NOAA says

Mar 17, 2022 Dryness and above average temperatures bring wildfire danger.

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