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Nature and Environment

Dropping Trees off at Rillito.

Live Christmas Trees can still be recycled at various local locations

Jan 2, 2022 The tree mulching sites set up in Tucson, Oro Valley and Marana will be open till January 17.
The Central Arizona Project moves water from the Colorado River to southern Arizona. July 2021

Water cutbacks coming to Arizona

Dec 31, 2021 A decades-long drought means less water from the Colorado River in 2022.
Whitset Pump House on the California side of Lake Havasu. Lake Havasu reservoir is formed by Parker Dam on the Colorado River, on the border between San Bernardino County, California and La Paz County, Arizona. The Whitsett Intake Pumping Plant is at the beginning of the Colorado River Aqueduct, a 242-mile aqueduct, which transports water from Lake Havasu to Lake Mathews in Riverside County.

Leading water experts explore the future of managing a shrinking water supply from the Colorado River

Dec 27, 2021 New report says the best water policies are borne out of a few driving factors.
Clouds and rainbow over Tucson during 2021 monsoon.

Arizona sees wet, windy weather with rain, snow

Dec 24, 2021 Holiday travel impacted by rain and snow
One of four cactus ferruginous pygmy owls to be born at the Phoenix Zoo, 2019.

Pygmy Owl may get protection again

Dec 24, 2021 The federal government wants to list ferruginous pygmy owl as a threatened species.
Docent Sally Sherman gives a tour of the Watershed Management Group's Living Lab on December 4th, 2021. The tour shows participants how to conserve water through rainwater harvesting and other means.

Local organization gives tours showing how to conserve water

Dec 22, 2021 The group also helps homeowners navigate rebates and grants to defray the cost.
Representatives from lower Colorado River basin states, the federal government and tribes sign the new 500+ plan. The deal, formalized at the Colorado River Water Users Association conference in Las Vegas, allocates millions of dollars to help put water back into Lake Mead.

Lower basin states sign deal to put water back in Lake Mead amid dropping levels

Dec 16, 2021 Arizona, California, Nevada, and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation are pooling more than $100 million dollars to incentivize reductions in water use.
Aeration tanks at the blue plains sewage treatment plant on the Anacostia River. April 1973.

Sewage crisis hits Mexico beach community

Dec 13, 2021 Sonora's governor promises aid
These endangered jaguars are part of a breeding population located near in Sonora, Mexico .

Wildlife of Southern Arizona

Dec 10, 2021 This week The Buzz talks with experts studying bats, Gila Topminnows and jaguars, and others who focus on how animals move from place-to-place.
The next ride for the UA-developed spectropolarimeter could be aboard a small CubeSat satellite in Earth orbit.

UA doctoral student's satellite gathering upper atmosphere data for climate forecasters

Dec 10, 2021 The self-designed research package went aloft on a high-altitude balloon in August.

Bill would allow Colorado River Indian tribes to lease water to other cities

Dec 6, 2021 The bill comes amid historic low levels in Lake Mead and as Arizona faces a harsh water future.
A file image of the Colorado River in Northern Arizona.

December has arrived but in much of the West, snowfall has not

Dec 4, 2021 In most of Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico, snowpack is only around a quarter or a third of normal.
Oak Flat, east of Superior, Arizona. A company proposes to build one of the world's largest underground copper mines at this location.

Protesters urge Sen. Kelly to support bill to protect sacred Oak Flat

Dec 2, 2021 The land holds religious and cultural significance to Indigenous communities.
Laura Dent had solar panels installed on her home earlier this year through a co-op and says that the process was simple and straightforward.

Nonprofit helps homeowners find good price for solar panels

Dec 2, 2021 The organization is launching its second co-op in Tucson.
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 monitors paint a bleak picture for the Colorado River

Nov 25, 2021 Four metrics are used to track drought, and they paint a bleak picture
A woman holds a sign opposing early plans for a proposed Interstate 11 outside a public event focused on the corridor in Tucson on May 8, 2019.

Officials approve corridor for part of proposed of new I-11

Nov 17, 2021 Depending on which of two alternatives is chosen, I-11 would track the existing Interstate 10 through Tucson or be routed across desert west of the city.

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