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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.
Reductions to Arizona's Colorado River supply, including water delivered by the Central Arizona Project, are issued starting in January 2022. The first-ever cutbacks will mean less available for underground storage.

Tucson gives up some CAP water for cash

Sep 21, 2022 City will still get its daily need, but less surplus.
An ore cart, encrusted in invasive mussel shells, rests on a ledge above a receding Lake Powell.

‘It’s getting close’: As the megadrought grinds on, Arizona working to meet water demands

Sep 18, 2022 Satellite photos show a dramatic change.
Garnett Querta fills his water truck from a fire hydrant on the Hualapai reservation Monday, Aug. 15, 2022, in Peach Springs, Ariz. The water pulled from the ground here will be piped dozens of miles across the rugged landscape to serve the roughly 600,000 tourists a year who visit the Grand Canyon on the Hualapai reservation in northwestern Arizona — an operation that's the tribe's main source of revenue.

State of unease: Colorado basin tribes without water rights

Sep 16, 2022 Hualapai tribal land in northwestern Arizona borders 100 miles of the Colorado River, but the tribe can't draw from it.
Treated wastewater, like this sample in Carson, California, could soon become a bigger part of the West's water portfolio. Cities in the drought-stricken Colorado River basin are putting big money behind project

Water managers see promise in recycling sewage

Sep 15, 2022 It could be a solution for the shrinking Colorado River
The sun sets over Tucson in July 2020, which was the hottest July on record.

Climate tool brings the bad news

Sep 11, 2022 Advocates hope that brings good outcomes
A vacant lot is used as a place to stack and assemble sandbags for use by residents whose properties are at risk of flooding.

The Buzz: A strong monsoon brings road closures and floods

Sep 9, 2022 Why does some infrastructure get overwhelmed by above-average summer rain?
Monsoon rainshower.

Monsoon madness reaches final weeks

Sep 6, 2022 Amateur forecasters are predicting Southwest rainfall totals for the second straight year.
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.

Tucson to require EV chargers at many new homes, businesses

Aug 29, 2022 Cost is an issue as inflation continues.
This photo provided by Caltrans shows a washed-out section of Interstate 10 near Desert Center, Calif., Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2022. Eastbound traffic on Interstate 10 in the Southern California desert was blocked Thursday after flash floods washed out the roadway. The latest round of flooding caused by monsoonal thunderstorms hit Wednesday evening and also impacted other desert highways.

Washout repair completed on I-10

Aug 29, 2022 A section of highway near the Arizona-California border was washed away in a flash flood.
Lake Mead’s light-colored “bathtub ring” of mineral deposits towers above a speeding boat on June 29, 2022, near Hoover Dam.

No firm new deadline for Colorado River basin states’ conservation plans

Aug 22, 2022 The seven states that rely on the river blew past an August 16 deadline without a plan to conserve 2 to 4 million acre-feet of water.
Glen Canyon Dam holds back Lake Powell, the nation's second-largest reservoir on the Colorado River. The lake is currently at 28% of its capacity.

Tucson Water plans for future

Aug 17, 2022 The utility held a town hall after Colorado River cuts announced.
The seven states in the Colorado River basin couldn't agree on a plan to conserve unprecedented amounts of water before a federal deadline. Meanwhile, grim projections for the future of water levels in Lake Mead have forced mandatory cuts to water for some users in the lower basin. Federal authorities are trying to prop up levels in the nation's largest reservoir before they dip too low to generate hydropower or allow the passage of water.

Colorado River states fail to meet federal deadline on restricting water use

Aug 16, 2022 Arizona will lose 21% of its Colorado River allotment next year.
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.

More water cuts coming to Arizona

Aug 16, 2022 The federal Bureau of Reclamation has announced how much Colorado River water the state will give up.

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