Stories - AZPM

The summer of 2023 will be remembered for this unusual pairing of films.

The "Barbenheimer" Experience Arrives in Tucson

Also on Arizona Spotlight: Using a natural desert resource in a new way; and ""Chasing the Ghost Bear: On the Trail of America’s Lost Super Beast".

Phoenix scorches at 110 for 19th straight day, breaking big US city records in global heat wave

The city's record streak of 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3 Celsius) or more stood out even amid sweltering temperatures across the globe.

Stacks of hay bales sit beside an irrigation canal in Imperial Valley on June 20, 2023. Critics have called for reductions to the amount of alfalfa grown with Colorado River water. The particularly thirsty crop is mostly used for cattle feed.

Freeing up Colorado River water from California farms will take more than just money, just ask the farmers

The Imperial Valley is the largest Colorado River water user.

The Buzz: Tracing the Colorado River’s problems back for more than a hundred years

This week, we preview Thirst Gap, a new podcast from the team at NPR member station KUNC.

More electric-vehicle charging ports will be installed along interstate highways in Arizona as early as 2024

National scorecard on electric-vehicle policies gives Arizona low marks

Arizona was 26th of the 33 states included in the 2023 scorecard from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.

AZ Project WET program coordinator, Josh Ruddick instructs educators like JoAnna McCormick, how to conduct percolator tests or, testing water absorption rates as part of the hands-on activities of Southwest Urban Corridor Integrated Field Laboratory's summer teacher workshop. Teachers from throughout the greater Tucson area have gathered for this two-day workshop, to participate in hands-on activities and develop climate-change centric curriculum.

UA workshop deepens local educators' knowledge of the impact of climate change in Arizona

Relevant data will be used to develop relevant curriculum for students

Snow falls on the Colorado River near New Castle, Colorado, on January 11, 2023. Months of snow and rain soaked a region in the grips of drought and helped replenish reservoirs along the Colorado River.

Months of wet weather erase drought across the Southwest

Only 28% of the region is experiencing drought.

Red wiggler worms are used for vermicomposting to repurpose and dispose of food waste in a sustainable way. Photo taken at the Arizona Worm Farm in Phoenix on Feb. 1, 2023.

Wiggly workers: Arizona Worm Farm reduces food waste through vermicomposting

The farm is working to combat food waste with its vermicomposting efforts, selling worms to promote commercial and backyard vermicomposting, and educating consumers and businesses about the process.

Low water levels at Wahweap Bay at Lake Powell along the Upper Colorado River Basin are shown, on June 9, 2021, at the Utah and Arizona border at Wahweap, Ariz.

Feds announce start of public process to reshape key rules on Colorado River water use by 2027

The U.S. Interior Department said it will publish in the Federal Register on Friday a call for replacing guidelines that expire in 2026.

Fresh snow blankets the Catalina Mountains. From February 2021.

Ponderosa Pine at risk due to megadrought

New research shows that the species is facing higher mortality rates due to the drought.

Phoenix officials are seeking public input on updates to the city’s Climate Action Plan, as the region grapples with human-caused climate change, including poor air quality, drought, and extreme heat.

For more blue skies, Phoenix asks residents to blue-sky climate plan ideas

This week’s meeting aimed to get public feedback for a draft update that will be released later this summer.

The Central Arizona Project moves water from the Colorado River to southern Arizona. July 2021

Arizona to restrict some new construction in fast-growing areas of Phoenix reliant on groundwater

Officials said the move would not affect existing homeowners who already have assured water supplies.

The City of Tucson will voluntarily reduce its water allocations from the Colorado River by up to 110,000 acre-feet through 2025. The multi-year agreement was signed by Mayor Regina Romero, alongside the Bureau of Reclamation through the Central Arizona Project (CAP) on Wednesday, May 24.

Tucson signs agreement to use less Colorado River water

The voluntary deal offers the City of Tucson $400 per acre-foot as compensation for every unit conserved.

A pontoon boat is tied up at the shore of a recently-revealed beach in one of Lake Powell's side canyons on April 10, 2023

At Lake Powell, record low water levels reveal an 'amazing silver lining'

Water managers are under pressure to keep water flowing through hydroelectric turbines within Glen Canyon Dam, which holds back Powell.

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.

California, Arizona, Nevada offer landmark drought deal to use less Colorado River water — for now

The plan would conserve an additional 3 million acre-feet of water through 2026, when current guidelines for how the river is shared expire.

A solar array used by Tucson Electric Power to add renewable energy to the grid, August 2019

US greenlights major transmission line for renewable energy in Arizona and other Western states

The announcement comes just about a year after an environmental review was completed as part of a broader effort by the Biden administration to clear the way for major transmission projects in the West.

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