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PHOENIX – Wastewater. We use it to irrigate fields, to flush toilets and to make one of America’s favorite beverages – beer.

WASHINGTON – The Interior Department’s purchase of a plot of private land will allow public access to 32,600 acres of previously isolated forest land, a move that drew praise from wilderness advocates and hunters alike this week.

WASHINGTON – Environmentalists and livestock owners are pointing fingers after government agents killed an endangered Mexican gray wolf last month for preying on cattle, the first wolf killed for depredation in 10 years.

WASHINGTON – It may not be surprising that an “aquatic desert” turtle faces long odds in life, but environmentalists and biologists still welcomed this week’s endangered species designation for the Sonoyta mud turtle.

WASHINGTON – When overgrown forests clash with energy infrastructure – devastating fire and power outages can follow. But current law puts up bureaucratic hurdles that make it hard for utilities to do the forest clearing that could prevent those fires, and then holds them responsible when fires break out, an Arizona Public Service official told.

CASA GRANDE — Italian pasta chefs are known for crafting dishes that are as much local culture as they are food. What is less well-known is that Arizona’s desert durum wheat is a common ingredient in Italian pasta.

WASHINGTON – Plans to reduce the size of a destructive herd of Grand Canyon bison took another step forward this week, when a House panel approved a bill to require culling, just weeks after the National Park Service approved its own plan.

WASHINGTON – For Flagstaff, the wake-up call came seven years ago when the town suffered through the Schultz fire, a massive blizzard, floods, tornados and more.

BUCKEYE — Local leaders say salt cedar trees are invading the Gila River, causing flood andfire hazards and choking native vegetation and wildlife habitats. They say it’s time for the trees, planted a century ago to slow erosion, to make their final stand.

WASHINGTON – The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality got $315 million in funding for specific federal programs over the past five years – funding that could be endangered by proposed cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency budget.

WASHINGTON – Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton said in his State of the City address this year that Phoenix had been “recognized for our leadership on sustainability,” but a new study suggests it may have room to improve.

PHOENIX – Local conservation and environmental organizations plan to expand efforts to protect and grow Sonoran bald eagle populations after a federal court decision to deny the birds a spot on the endangered species list.

WASHINGTON – A federal court has rejected a bid to declare the Sonoran Desert bald eagle an endangered species, saying the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service acted properly when it determined the birds were no different than other bald eagles.

WASHINGTON – Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said Thursday he will not call for the removal of any national monuments but will recommend downsizing an unnamed “handful” of monuments in a report to the White House.

PHOENIX – A local grassroots environmental group gathered outside the Arizona state Capitol on Thursday to draw attention to diesel pollution. They want state officials to use the nearly $57 million the state will receive from the national Volkswagen settlement to replace diesel school buses with electric buses.

PHOENIX – People began lining up near the Hayden Library on Arizona State University’s Tempe campus by 7 a.m. Monday to snag some free solar-safe glasses and watch the Great American Eclipse.

GRAND CANYON – An aging pipeline bringing water to residents, resorts and 6 million visitors a year at the Grand Canyon has broken about 80 times since 2010 and needs a multimillion-dollar replacement, park officials say.

WASHINGTON – Arizona’s top water official told a congressional committee Wednesday that even though the state has done a lot right, years of drought still threaten to push the region into a water emergency in the next few years.

WASHINGTON – The Department of Homeland Security invoked a waiver of environmental and other regulations Tuesday to speed construction of border projects, a decision that critics said will “endanger wildlife and people.”

PHOENIX – Climate change that brings rising temperatures could lead to more grounded flights, according to a Columbia University study.

VERDE RIVER – State officials plan to open Arizona’s newest state park along the Verde River but neighboring landowners fear crowds will compromise safety.

PHOENIX – Monsoons can be tough on homes. Debbie Hernandez of Home Depot offers tips to keep a storm from wrecking a house or yard:

WASHINGTON – An Interior Department plan to review recently designated national monuments has drawn more than 1.4 million public comments, a “phenomenal” number that one advocate said he had not seen in 25 years of environmental activism.

WASHINGTON – Proposed federal rules that would require mining companies to have cash sufficient to clean up any environmental problems they might cause are “duplicative and unnecessary,” an Arizona environmental official told a House panel Thursday.

WASHINGTON – Democrats and Republicans agreed Wednesday that everybody wants to prevent extinction of endangered species – but they differ sharply on how to do that.

PHOENIX – Flash floods are second only to heat as a weather-related killer in Arizona, said meteorologist Daniel Henz of Maricopa County’s Flood Control District. Nine swimmers died and a 10th is missing after a flash flood on Saturday near Payson.

PHOENIX – Storms that flooded Burton Barr Central Library over the weekend will leave it closed indefinitely, sending patrons and staff to other library branches in Phoenix.

MESA – Phoenix area residents, utility companies and city officials spent Monday cleaning up from weekend monsoons that flooded streets, toppled trees, cut off power to thousands of homes and forced the closure of a water-drenched central Phoenix library.

WASHINGTON – Sounds of toddlers laughing and playing echoed around her, but on stage the message from a Mesa teen was serious: Act on climate change, or we will suffer.

WASHINGTON – An Arizona organic farmer told lawmakers Thursday that an advisory panel that is supposed to help the Agriculture Department develop standards is instead creating a sense of “uncertainty” in the future of the organic market.

PHOENIX – One researcher takes to the skies, while another is rooted to the ground.

BERKELEY, Calif. – Tucked behind a Whole Foods in a corner warehouse unit, Ron and Faye Mitchell grow 8,000 pounds of food each month without using any soil, and they recycle the water their plants don’t use.

PHOENIX – Even a cactus has limits.

WASHINGTON – It used to be that firefighters’ biggest worries in a wildfire might be unpredictable winds, rocky terrain and scorching heat. That was before the advent of affordable, readily available aerial drones.

MESA – Mesa police are investigating claims two officers beat a man who was jaywalking after a video emerged of them striking him as he struggled with them on the ground.

PHOENIX – The call comes in. A woman is having chest pains. Four Phoenix firefighters at Station No. 30 jump onto a truck, ignoring the triple-digit temperatures, and speed to an apartment to tend to the woman sitting on her couch.

WASHINGTON – After 24 years of waiting, is the Pima pineapple cactus finally having its day in the sun? The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service this week released a draft recovery plan for the cactus that has been on the endangered species list since 1993. But even as they welcomed the announcement, conservation advocates said.

PHOENIX – Socorro Carbajal had tears in her eyes.

TUCSON – Tucson Electric Power proposes to slice $6 million from energy efficiency programs, a move an Arizona consumer-interest group said would hurt residents, small businesses and nonprofit organizations.

PHOENIX – Socorro Carbajal is 76 years old, lives on the limits of Social Security and can’t afford to have her home’s central air conditioning unit repaired.

WASHINGTON – Federal officials said Friday they will remove the Hualapai Mexican vole from the endangered species list after 30 years, a move that one environmental group criticized as “premature” for an animal it says could still be at risk.

PHOENIX – Arizona anglers can hook trout, bass and catfish at urban recreation areas in the Phoenix area and around the state after Arizona Game and Fish stocked waters with a quarter million fish.

PHOENIX – The Deer Valley Treatment Plant cleans, tests and pumps out 150 million gallons of water a day.

As record heat continued to plague the Valley, Tempe residents and workers found ways to survive triple-digit temperatures.

MESA – Farmers depend on honey bees to produce one-third of our food and drink, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But experts say those same farmers may be killing those bees because of the pesticides they use.

PHOENIX – The extreme heat in the Phoenix area, expected to reach 120 degrees on Tuesday, endangers the elderly and others with health risks and has lead to dozens of cancelled flights.

PHOENIX – Soaring temperatures and dry conditions are increasing the danger of wildfires in Arizona. About 850 wildfires ripped through more than 200 square miles in Arizona this year, according to Jeff Whitney, director of the Arizona State Forestry Division.

WASHINGTON – Southern Arizona is looking at a “very dangerous” wildfire season with a “tremendous amount of fire” after a spring of record dryness and above-average temperatures, fire officials say.

LAKE MEAD – Arizona risks losing water rights because of a lingering, nearly two-decade long drought in the Colorado River that could restrict water use ranging from farmers’ crops to how many households receive water, state water experts say.

WASHINGTON – A federal appeals court Tuesday agreed with two tribes who challenged a Freeport Minerals plan to divert water from the Gila River, saying the company had failed to show that its proposal would not affect the tribes.

WASHINGTON – Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke recommended reducing the size of the 1.5-million-acre Bears Ears National Monument in southern Utah, drawing immediate criticism from Democrats and environmental groups who called his plan “nonsense.”

PHOENIX – A meteorite that landed on tribal land a year ago now bears an Apache name.

PHOENIX — For Diamondbacks relief pitcher J.J. Hoover, signing with the team in January marked the beginning of a new chapter. Off the field, another experience has given birth and is in the early stages for the hard-throwing right-hander.

WASHINGTON – Republican and Democratic members of a House panel agreed Thursday that many factors have led to the rising number of wildfires in the U.S. That was all they agreed on.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Forest Service faces a $970 million budget cut in 2018, but the chief of the agency told a Senate panel Wednesday he is confident the service will have the resources to battle wildfires next year.

WASHINGTON – Arizona cities Friday spurned President Donald Trump’s plan to pull the U.S. out of a global emissions compact, with at least three mayors pledging their cities would hew to the emission goals laid out in the Paris accord.

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump said Thursday the United States will withdraw from a global agreement on emissions that “handicaps” the economy, a move that Arizona critics charged will end up harming both the economy and the environment.

SELIGMAN – Nearly 32 years after Route 66 lost its designation as an official highway, one of the most storied routes in America could face another road block. The program created to preserve the road and landmarks along it is set to expire in two years.

PHOENIX – Farmers markets are gaining more attention from Valley residents, helping small businesses reach customers and find their footing in a competitive market.

PHOENIX – Theater starts with an idea – a dream, a passion or a problem. Diverse theater in Arizona takes another step, giving voice to communities that otherwise get little attention on stage.

PHOENIX – A nearly decade-old practice of hauling a Christmas tree to the top of Camelback Mountain may be halted, with a Phoenix committee saying a need to leave the recreational area pristine triumphs over tradition.

WASHINGTON – An Arizona rancher and state legislator told a congressional committee Wednesday that he has been “held hostage” for years by the red tape that accompanies federal ownership of lands in the West.

PHOENIX – The ancient Hohokam civilization first built Phoenix’s canal system more than 600 years ago. In the fall, Phoenix officials plan to start a project they hope will revive and improve the Grand Canal.

WASHINGTON – Arizona’s top environmental official told separate House and Senate committees Tuesday that the federal government needs to back off and let states take care of environmental regulation on their own.

PARKER – The moment you take a sharp right turn off State Route 95 and onto Cienega Springs Road near Parker, there’s no such thing as a pit stop along the 5-mile journey. The bumpy, winding road leads to The Desert Bar, a secluded, booze-friendly landmark that’s been a staple in the area for more.

Cronkite News special: Sustainability initiatives in Arizona

MONUMENT VALLEY – On the outskirts of Monument Valley, touching the Arizona-Utah border, a water well is encased in a brick building behind a barb-wired fence. A few cattle graze nearby, mooing to occasionally pierce the quiet.

WASHINGTON – In the nine years since the former smelter near her house in Dewey-Humboldt was added to the Environmental Protection Agency’s list of toxic Superfund sites, Rose Eitemiller said she’s seen some progress. But not much.

PHOENIX – Old buildings have a story to tell.

SCOTTSDALE – Glacier lettuce. Thai Lavender Frog Egg Eggplant. Tigerella Tomato. The rare plants are among those grown at Brother Nature Farms in Scottsdale.

WASHINGTON – Solar power advocates say a 250-megawatt renewable-energy facility could be in place in time for the late-2019 closure of the Navajo Generating Station, if permitting and construction began right away.

PHOENIX – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency established a goal in September 2015 to cut food waste in half by 2030.

WASHINGTON – The 12 million people who visited national parks in Arizona last year spent more than $995 million with nearby businesses, a $63 million increase from the year before, the National Park Service said.

PHOENIX – The ground is 9 degrees hotter at night in Chandler and Gilbert than it was at the turn of the century, as increases in population and development in those areas resulted in changes in land use, according to a 2016 study.

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump ordered the Interior Department Wednesday to review two decades of national monument designations, actions he said represent an “egregious use of government power” affecting millions of acres of land.

TUCSON – For the past several months, Morgan Smith has hunched over the framework for a small go-cart in a classroom littered with metal shavings at his Tucson high school.

GILBERT – Inside a storage facility like any other, a husband and wife are working on a mission unlike any other.

WASHINGTON – Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Tucson, and the Center for Biological Diversity challenged President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall on environmental grounds Wednesday, going to court to force the administration to follow environmental protection laws before starting construction.

WICKENBURG – A hidden gem is getting revamped.

CAMP VERDE – Zach Hauser hopes that part of his family-owned property will remain a farm “forever.”

WASHINGTON – Phoenix fell from third to fifth place among cities for total installed solar capacity last year, slowed by charges imposed on Arizona solar users at time when other cities surged ahead with new installation.

SEDONA – Residents of a Sedona neighborhood are concerned their red rock oasis may soon get an unwelcome intruder: a 1.5 million gallon water tank.

WASHINGTON – The Environmental Protection Agency was within its rights to impose certain standards on industrial sites in Arizona in place of state rules meant to ensure visibility in federal parks, a federal appeals court ruled.

WASHINGTON – Arizona saw a 6 percent increase in solar jobs in 2016, bouncing back from a sharp drop the year before but still trailing well behind the national average growth of 25 percent in solar jobs.

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump’s executive order rolling back at least a half-dozen Obama-era climate policies will not save coal jobs as the president claims, but it will definitely harm the environment, critics said Tuesday.

PHOENIX – An app that tracks a garbage truck’s route in real time and bins that help users better separate trash from recyclables are among potential inventions vying for a $20,000 trash award.

TUCSON – The University of Arizona has partnered with a private manufacturing firm to create a more eco-friendly version of concrete.

WASHINGTON – Arizona got more than $21 million to help low-income residents pay their heating bills last year and another $1 million for home weatherization – money that would be lost under the Trump administration’s proposed budget.

PHOENIX – City officials and residents have worked for years to solidify plans to improve South Mountain Park. And they’re finally ready to begin work on $23 million worth of improvements.

WASHINGTON – The Resolution Copper Mine in Arizona would be operating by now in most countries, but is still years away from getting all the permits it needs to begin mining in the U.S., a company official testified Tuesday.

WASHINGTON – A federal appeals court rejected two cases related to the Navajo Generating Station, one that aimed to tighten environmental restrictions on the coal-fired power plant and another questioned the process that calls for the plant’s closure.

TEMPE – A chrome mannequin greets visitors entering a plain, red-brick building. The click of a sewing machine echoes in the warehouse as one worker hunches over a strip of cloth. Workers glide a steam iron over fabric.

SCOTTSDALE — Harvest the rain. Think of it like changing the path of rain. Instead of directing water into puddles, send it toward desert shrubs, flowers and rocks you place in your yard.

SAN CARLOS – It’s a chilly Friday morning on highway AZ-170 on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation.

WASHINGTON – Populations of endangered Mexican gray wolves have reached their highest numbers since reintroduction efforts began nearly 20 years ago, but rather than cheer the success, environmentalists are worried it could backfire on the struggling animals.

WASHINGTON – There are many factors behind declining Colorado River flows, but climate change plays a larger part than previously thought and the threat will continue to grow if global warming is not addressed, a recent report says.

WASHINGTON – Environmental groups said Wednesday they will keep a close eye on new Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, a former Montana congressman who they see as having a mixed record on the environment.

Around 5 million people visit Grand Canyon National Park each year to see the highly distinguished natural landmark stretching 277 river miles, according to the National Park Service. Hikers and backpackers alike come to tackle the difficult terrain.

SCOTTSDALE – Mackenzie Leblanc frowned at her lollipop in disappointment, trying to figure out why students in the group across from her were rewarded with the good lollipops – the ones with bubble gum in the middle – for doing the same exercise she had just completed.

GLENDALE – Glendale resident Steven Lane had always wanted to know more about the mosque that moved into the former church down the block.

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WASHINGTON – Despite pledges to look for alternatives, closing the Navajo Generating Station in Page could devastate the local economy, where hundreds of jobs rely on the plant and affiliated coal mine and where experts see few, if any, workable solutions.

PHOENIX – Sixty students from six high schools listed a litany of environmental concerns Wednesday at the Arizona Capitol, urging legislators to stop uranium mining near national parks and work harder to conserve water.

The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality is pushing to legalize recycled wastewater.

(Photo by Megan Bridgeman/Cronkite News) GOODYEAR – A climate-controlled office chair for workers, a rooftop solar-power array and an air-conditioning system that saves one million gallons of water per year are some environmentally savvy methods at REI’s Goodyear warehouse, its leaders said.

WASHINGTON – The owners of the Navajo Generating Station in Page voted today to keep the plant operating until its lease ends in December 2019, pending agreement with the Navajo Nation on reclamation of the site.

GLENDALE – There’s an aqua house tucked away in a residential neighborhood just off Bell Road in Glendale. It looks much like all the other homes in the neighborhood.

WASHINGTON – Multiple federal agencies were unable to provide disaster relief to the Navajo Nation after the 2015 Gold King Mine disaster that spilled 3 million gallons of toxins into the Animas River, the tribe’s president told a Senate panel Wednesday.

PHOENIX – Larissa Brewington channels a black woman from seven decades back, demure in a black polka-dotted dress with a doily collar and cat-eye glasses perched on her nose, convincing her way into a whites-only Oklahoma law school in 1940s’ America.

WASHINGTON – With record-low natural gas prices continuing to undercut coal, owners of the coal-fired Navajo Generating Station in Page could decide this spring whether they can afford to keep operating the plant or have to shut it down.

KAYENTA – Electrical power lines are nowhere in sight from Helen Salazar’s home. She lives on a dirt road in Monument Valley, part of the Navajo Nation. Throughout her life, Salazar has adapted to the challenges of living in a remote, off-grid home.

Phoenix is looking for people who know how to talk trash. As in, get rid of trash.

PHOENIX – Solar-powered trash cans placed in downtown Phoenix compact and reduce trash, spur recycling and cut down on trash collections – and may herald a new way to get rid of trash, Phoenix officials say.

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama will leave office Friday without declaring a new 1.7 million acre national monument around the Grand Canyon, Arizona lawmakers said this week.

WASHINGTON – Nearly a dozen Western mayors gathered Wednesday to discuss anything and everything “water” except the region’s drought contingency plan – what Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton called “the 800-pound gorilla in the room.”

CAMP VERDE – A mountain lion cub clings to a tree high above ground, malnourished and frightened.

TEMPE – Pristine white lab coats hang on a wheeled rack. Handwritten measurements and equations are crammed on whiteboards. And a long line of freezers are filled with containers of super-concentrated human waste.

Cronkite News special: Protecting the environment and energy opportunities

WASHINGTON – A month after it announced plans to develop a new solar power plant in Gila Bend, Vasari Energy was back in November to double down on its Arizona investment, expanding the plant’s capacity to power more than 7,000 homes.

ELOY – The prison squatted in the southeastern Arizona desert is as drab as the vegetation and soil that surrounds it, giving way to a room inside painted in bursts of California scenes: of skyscrapers, surf and Interstate 5, Hollywood movie reels, the Oakland Raiders and Cesar Chavez.

SUPERIOR – Oak Flat, a desert landscape and 90-minute drive outside Phoenix, lies in the midst of an environmental and economic controversy.

Cronkite News special: Protecting the environment and energy opportunities

PARKER – The high was 96 degrees on the day the tap went dry at Terry Mestas’ house. Mestas was among several hundred residents who endured heat that climbed to 106 degrees over three days in August, when five water-line breaks and a weak pressure valve shut down the water.

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama could cement his environmental legacy by taking executive action to designate nearly 4 million acres of Western land as national monuments before leaving office next month. And it may be one legacy of the Obama administration that incoming President Donald Trump will have a hard time unraveling after he takes.

On June 22, 2010, during President Obama’s second year in office, his administration unveiled a plan to end specific types of homelessness in the United States, with an initiative called “Opening Doors.” One of the main goals of the plan was to end homelessness for the nation’s military veterans by 2015.

MESA – As Thanksgiving inches closer, pounds of cold poultry await a crispy ending in the family fryer. After devouring the holiday feast, it’s time to turn to the leftovers.

PHOENIX — Smoke from lit bundles of sage swirled around protesters waving signs, “Water Is Life” and “Stand With Standing Rock” to oppose the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline.

PHOENIX – South Mountain Park, one of the nation’s largest city parks, has been showing the wear of hikers and picnickers over the years. Now it’s getting a $23 million makeover.

SCOTTSDALE – According to the Navajo teachings Sam Anderson learned as a child, water is sacred.

BUCKEYE – Arizona farmland has declined over the decades, leaving one generation of a Buckeye farming family concerned and another content.

PHOENIX – One Phoenix hair stylist is using his customers’ discarded hair to help the environment.

WASHINGTON – Phoenix was held out as a model for the nation during a conference call Wednesday by transit officials pushing for approval of about $200 billion in transit projects on local ballots across the country next week.

PHOENIX – Crispy corn dogs skewered on greasy sticks, Ferris wheels towering above the crowd, and toddler-sized teddy bears coveted as carnival-game prizes dominate Arizona State Fair culture.

PHOENIX – The pumpkins are among us, waiting to be carved, baked and displayed around the Valley. But once the glow of jack-o’-lantern hearts fade to black, they usually are tossed out with the garbage.

WASHINGTON – Some parts of southwest Arizona could experience more than 140 days of temperatures above 100 degrees within 20 years, according to a climate change model from the Environmental Protection Agency.

WASHINGTON – Environmental advocates are challenging Arizona and states across the Southwest to use funds from a potential Volkswagen lawsuit settlement to invest in electric-vehicle charging stations and to electrify public transit.

WASHINGTON – The state of Arizona could get up to $53 million for clean-air programs as part of a $14.7 billion settlement of a U.S. government lawsuit that charged Volkswagen rigged its “clean diesel” vehicles to cheat on emissions tests.

PHOENIX – Piggly’s Barbeque, one of nearly 100 vendors at the Arizona State Fair, will use 40 to 50 gallons of cooking oil every day to make their Piggly Fries and other fare.

MESA – Debra Hartin’s family remembers a woman who lived her life fiercely, with few limits. She rowed canoes in the Minnesota wilderness, her clothes drenched from rain. She swam in a triathlon, sharing the running and biking with her sister and niece. She hiked trails in Usery Mountain Regional Park — her favorite park.

WASHINGTON – Lawmakers on Monday questioned the Justice Department’s decision not to prosecute officials in connection with the Gold King Mine spill, which dumped nearly 3 million gallons of toxins into the Animas River last year.

TONOPAH – Officials from the U.S. Navy, federal government and a power company gathered in the middle of the desert plains just outside of Tonopah last week.

Are you an Arizona resident with a passion for improving your neighborhood, city, county or state?

GLENDALE – Chickens scratching, clucking and laying eggs in neighbors’ backyards could become more frequent under a proposed change to a Glendale ordinance, setting the groundwork for an anti-chicken and pro-chicken battle over lifestyle, property rights and the environment.

PHOENIX – As a child, Renae Yellowhorse chased birds through the sagebrush on the Navajo reservation along the edge of the Grand Canyon.

SCOTTSDALE – A controversial, $75-million desert center in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve is moving forward after two decades of wrangling, despite preservation activists’ attempts to stop it.

WASHINGTON – Anakarina Rodriguez traveled from southern Arizona to Washington with a message for President Barack Obama: designate 1.7 million acres around the Grand Canyon as a national monument.

WASHINGTON – National Park Service employees continue to suffer from a “toxic” work culture that has allowed for rampant sexual misconduct and a culture of retaliation, park workers told a House committee Thursday.

WASHINGTON – Navajo Nation locals joined Utah lawmakers Wednesday to express opposition to any attempt to designate land around the Bears Ears site in southeastern Utah as a national monument.

WASHINGTON – Federal officials denied endangered status to a southern Arizona snail Wednesday after unexpectedly finding far more than were thought to exist, but moved to protect what one advocate called the “very imperiled” Sonoyta mud turtle.

SIERRA VISTA – Dozens of hummingbirds congregate near a house in southeastern Arizona, delighting families who interact with the birds and the specialists who believe the creatures’ migration may help solve the mysteries of environmental health.

WASHINGTON – When Valley gearheads line up Saturday night at the McDonald’s at Scottsdale Pavilions to show off their cars as they have for more than 20 years, Brian Perkins will be there to help showcase 19 cars.

VERDE VALLEY – The valley is tucked south of the red rocks of Sedona, lush with greenery and alive with wildlife that flock to the banks of the river running through it.

WASHINGTON – The chairman of the Hualapai Tribe told a Senate committee Wednesday that a proposed 70-mile, $173 million water project would lay the groundwork for expansion of Grand Canyon West and increased tourism in the state.

WASHINGTON – Western lawmakers joined Olympic pentathlete Margaux Isaksen Thursday to warn against attempts to move federal lands into state or private hands and to call on the president to use his authority to expand national monuments.

PHOENIX – Native American tribal leaders, archaeologists and Congressman Raúl Grijalva are seeking to designate more than 84,000 acres curving along the Gila River as a national monument.

WASHINGTON – Environmental and tribal activists welcomed the government’s announcement Wednesday that it had designated the Gold King Mine a Superfund site, advancing the cleanup of an area contaminated by a multimillion-gallon toxic spill last year.

WASHINGTON – Federal officials took the first step this week toward a planned $1 billion cleanup of abandoned uranium mines in and around the Navajo Nation, seeking bids to assess the problem and begin planning the project.

TEMPE – Last month, record-setting floods swept through the suburbs of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. For some within the Arizona State football program the disaster didn’t just hit home – it was home.

GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK – Liliana Spurlock knew she wanted to be a U.S. citizen since the first moment she stepped on American soil 13 years ago.

OATMAN, AZ – A wild burro approaches a saloon in the sleepy Arizona town of Oatman, and taps its hooves on the sun-weathered porch. Right on cue, the saloon owner comes out, pats its head and offers it a bite-sized hay cube.

WASHINGTON – The National Park Service hopes to boost visits in honor of its centennial later this month, but its “Find Your Park” program has some environmental groups asking: How much is too much?

LAVEEN – A deal to trade Colorado River water for reclaimed water to irrigate fields on the Gila River Indian Community has been the source of a months-long battle between the Pii Paash people and the larger Gila River community.

PHOENIX – Muslims in America have been burdened with a label of terrorism that colors others’ perceptions of Islam, a religion of peace and diverse followers, Arizona Muslims say.

PHOENIX — Just one letter – “x”– has spurred death threats, sparked arguments and reverberated throughout a community.

PHOENIX – The Arizona Game and Fish Department is asking the Sierra Club to cease fundraising endeavors by claiming the endangered condor population in the Grand Canyon is threatened by uranium mining.

PHILADELPHIA – Edward Manuel ticks off the issues – water shortages, federal approval of mining projects, allocation of scarce resources – all decisions made with what he thinks is insufficient input from the nation’s tribes.

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WASHINGTON – State and federal officials praised a bipartisan bill Wednesday that would encourage renewable energy development on public lands by streamlining the permitting process and letting local governments share in revenues from the projects.

MESA — Fire damaged a community center for the homeless in Mesa on the July Fourth holiday, but volunteers and neighbors of the nonprofit stepped in to make sure no one missed their morning meal.

CAVE CREEK — Sweet red fruit rests on the arm of a prickly Saguaro. Yellowing pods are ground into meal. Spiked bright-green pads are roasted over a crackling fire pit.

A team of researchers from ASU worked with leaders from the White Mountain Apache tribe to recover remnants of a meteor that streaked over Phoenix skies just weeks before.

TEMPE — “The vault” is a climate-controlled room that sits behind three locked doors in the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University. Housed inside are fifteen charcoal-colored pebbles that collectively weigh less than a quarter of a pound.

WASHINGTON – The federal government needs to “honor its commitment” to Arizona’s White Mountain Apache and let the tribe use funds from a federal water-rights settlement funds to continue work on the Miner Flat Dam, lawmakers said Wednesday.

SCOTTSDALE — It takes a split second for the fun of splashing in a pool or lake to turn into danger, for children and adults.

PHOENIX — It was 9 a.m. and the temperature had already reached 100 degrees.

WASHINGTON – A Flagstaff program that aims to prevent wildfires by thinning the forest surrounding the city was named a national “best in class” Tuesday in a report on use of natural defenses against catastrophes.

BUCKEYE — Goats bleat, chickens roam and blue-green peacocks strut in Jing Lv’s backyard as she walks in the vegetable garden that gives her a taste of home.

PHOENIX – Sierra Club and Native American tribal leaders are asking the public to urge Arizona elected leaders to designate 1.7 million acres around the Grand Canyon as a national monument to protect it from mining and logging interests.

TEMPE — It’s here. Outside your door.

Muslims in Arizona and around the world began celebrating Ramadan on June 5. Here are five common questions about the holy month.

TEMPE – A crescent moon shines bright in the night sky, casting a celestial light. The lunar cycle signifies Ramadan, one of the most holy times for Muslims across the world.

YARNELL – A wildfire has burned more than 1,200 acres near Yarnell, forcing the evacuation of about 300 residents and raising memories of the Yarnell Hill tragedy three years ago when 19 firefighters died.

PHOENIX – Recent bee attacks turned a normal summer day into a deadly encounter.

CAMP VERDE – The crowds and clutter that marred the pristine oasis of Fossil Creek in northern Arizona has apparently decreased under a month-old permit system to protect the area for wildlife, campers and hikers.

PHOENIX — Valley residents were treated to a light show early Thursday morning as a celestial object flashed across the sky. A meteor glowed brightly as it vaporized in the atmosphere.

MARICOPA — When Trisha Johnson spotted a Mitsubishi lurching along the dusty road in front of her house, her fingers flew over the keyboard of her smartphone. Within seconds, she posted an alert on Facebook to neighbors in her rural community.

SAN TAN VALLEY – The Arizona drought is affecting businesses and homeowners, who are urged to take measures to save water.

SCOTTSDALE — Silly name. Serious solution. That’s what local Arizona company Soilworks calls its Gorilla-Snot fix to the blowing dust that resulted in a 62-mile stretch of Interstate 10 being closed multiple times during the past several weeks.

WASHINGTON – Arizona officials said Tuesday it is time to end the “gentleman’s agreement” currently governing states’ use of water from Lake Mead and instead put tougher restrictions into law.

WASHINGTON – Arizona is expected to have a normal wildfire season this summer after several years in which the state saw relatively little fire activity, state and federal officials said Tuesday.

SCOTTSDALE – A large orange and black butterfly glides through a flurry of multicolored wings to land on a bright pink flower. Soft music and a light mist fill the warm air in Butterfly Wonderland.

WASHINGTON – Environmental prosecutions have fallen sharply under the Obama administration, a change the Environmental Protection Agency attributes to shift to focus on bigger, high-impact investigations.

PHOENIX – Downtown Phoenix streets, once scattered with vacant lots and modest housing, are now abuzz with the ceaseless sounds of cranes, backhoes and tractors.

PHOENIX – On June 30, 2013, members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots worked to protect the small town of Yarnell, Ariz. from an approaching wildfire. Only one of the crew’s 20 firefighters survived. The tragedy of the Yarnell Hill Fire captivated grieving audiences and Fernanda Santos, Phoenix bureau chief for The New York Times. In.

PHOENIX – TigerMountain Foundation is trying to lower the recidivism rate in south Phoenix by cultivating community gardens.

YUMA – As Arizona copes with a 15-year drought, farmers in Yuma are learning to do more with less and leading the way in water conservation.

WASHINGTON – Arizona Democratic Reps. Raul Grijalva and Ruben Gallego joined other lawmakers and civil rights groups Thursday urging President Barack Obama to implement more inclusive policies on the nation’s public lands.

WASHINGTON – Tribal leaders joined Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Tucson, on Tuesday urging President Barack Obama to designate 1.7 million acres around the Grand Canyon as a national monument, bypassing Congress in the process.

Arizona Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, D-Ariz., are accusing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency of neglect for the agency’s response to Navajo communities after a Colorado mine spill polluted the San Juan River last August.

SOUTHEAST ARIZONA — Inside a large chain-link cage at the Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center, a Mexican gray wolf gently moves from behind a tree and into the open air. It stands in the midday sun, dark-lined eyes looking intently beyond the fence, before settling under the tree for shade.

WASHINGTON – The director of the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality told lawmakers Thursday that new air-quality standards will burden rural communities, like many in Arizona, by holding “rural counties accountable for pollution they did not create.”

WASHINGTON – Officials from Western states Wednesday blasted what they called “overreaching” and “job-killing” clean-water regulations proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency but currently on hold as the result of a court challenge.

South Mountain Park and Preserve glistens like a desert gem nestled in Phoenix.

An alternative, environmentally-focused way of interment is picking up popularity across the United States.

Over the past couple of weeks, there has been a swarm of earthquakes in the state of Arizona.

WASHINGTON – National monuments designated by President Barack Obama are adding $156 million to their local economies a year, according to a study of the 10 most recently named monuments spanning Western states.

TEMPE – Discolored, irregularly shaped and unusually sized fruit, vegetables and meat rarely make it to U.S. grocery stores. “Ugly food” is often left in the field to rot or thrown away before it can be sold to consumers.

WASHINGTON – The president of a Phoenix-based water company joined other officials from around the country to tell a Senate panel Thursday that the nation’s aging infrastructure needs help if Americans want a reliable, safe source of water.

FLAGSTAFF – Fire officials in Flagstaff are preparing for wildfire season as El Niño unexpectedly left Arizona with dry conditions that can spark fire danger.

WASHINGTON – Grand Canyon National Park officials say the park should break last year’s record of 5.5 million visitors this year, but advocates are worried the park may not be able to handle such large crowds.

U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Arizona, said he believes there is a chance the U.S. Congress will move forward with legislation addressing drought in the West, but any federal response to water shortages must not overrule state policies or rely on federal funding.

MESA-Mesa is the Valley’s second city to implement a bike share program.

WASHINGTON – Phoenix and Tucson water officials took the occasion of the first-ever White House Water Summit to announce plans Tuesday for a more than fivefold increase in the joint conservation effort between the two cities.

In 2010, the U.N. General Assembly recognized access to clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right. Six years later, on March 22, a Scottsdale-based nonprofit is helping rural communities in five underdeveloped countries claim that right.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Forest Service has started its formal review of the environmental impact of the proposed Resolution Copper mine, but opponents charge the outcome of the process is “already pre-ordained.”

Most Americans take clean drinking water for granted.

The Phoenix Water Services Department wants you to fix that leaky toilet – and to share your work with the world.

The hot Arizona climate has an immediate impact on how local golf courses care for the land. The choice to overseed the course and Arizona water restrictions impact the golf business around the Valley, especially when tourism booms in the winter months.

WASHINGTON – Federal officials Tuesday rejected a request to remove the acuna cactus from the endangered species list, but said they will give further consideration to a petition to delist the Southwestern willow flycatcher.

APACHE JUNCTION – Arizona law prohibits visitors from taking vegetation and rocks from state parks to preserve nature for other visitors and future generations.

WASHINGTON – Opponents of a proposed copper mine at the Oak Flat campground scored a point when it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places this month – but while they won the battle, they haven’t won the war.

Water rushes out of a spout in a small factory in north Phoenix as Andrew Lascurain holds a square plastic bags up to the nozzle.

SUPERIOR — The state’s top tree climbers know that most people probably have a few misconceptions about their sport.

A Maricopa County grant is keeping overnight shelter services available to the homeless, but the grant is expected to run out around June 30 as summer temperature burn hotter.

WASHINGTON – Supporters of a copper mine proposed for Oak Flat have been given until Friday to make the case that the area, deemed sacred by the San Carlos Apache, should not be designated a historic site.

Arizona McDonald’s are working with school children to turn used coffee grounds into compost for community gardens.

New regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency would mean most of Arizona would not meet federal ozone limits, a situation Arizona business leaders said would harm economic development but the EPA said is necessary to public health.

Hip-hop, crowned as a top musical genre, is rooted in the centuries-old cadence and storytelling of African dance.

WASHINGTON – Federal and county officials agreed after face-to-face meetings in Washington this week that “there is a problem” with overpopulation of wild burros in Arizona’s western counties and that something needs to be done.

Historic Tanner Chapel A.M.E. Church, one of the oldest African American churches in the state, is the only Arizona church where civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. is known to have given a sermon.

WASHINGTON – Both sides agree with the intent of the Land and Water Conservation Fund – to help acquire and improve federal and local park projects – but they disagree on how it should be implemented.

A festival showcasing environmental and human connections to sustain the planet winds up this week.

Steve Atkins, wearing khakis and a tucked button-down blue shirt, squints closely at a primitive unit set up on the roof of a research building on the Arizona State University campus in Tempe.

WASHINGTON – Backers of a bill that would create a new national monument on 1.7 million acres of federal land around the Grand Canyon touted a new survey Thursday that they said shows broad support for the plan.

On Arizona State University’s Tempe campus Wednesday, people laid in the sun and others took a nap on the grass. It’s the middle of winter, but it doesn’t seem that way in Phoenix.

Phoenix leaders want to make neighborhoods happier and healthier under a proposal to create a more environmentally conscious city — but they want to hear from residents first.

TEMPE – Tempe Town Lake will soon be dry.

WASHINGTON – Arizona parks and monuments had more than $580 million in deferred maintenance at the end of fiscal 2015, part of a national backlog totaling $11.9 billion, according to a new National Park Service report.

WASHINGTON – Six months after the Gold King Mine spill dumped nearly 3 million gallons of toxins into the Animas River, regulators say the immediate threat has passed and that an abandoned mine survey has “not discovered anything similar” in Arizona.

WASHINGTON – Longtime Sanders resident Wayne Lynch was told in July that the water on his ranch contained dangerously high amounts of uranium, yet he is still using it.

SCOTTSDALE – The grass isn’t the only thing that’s green at the Waste Management Phoenix Open this week.

The cigarettes that are detrimental to your health are also littering Arizona freeways, creating eyesores, leaching chemicals and causing a fire hazard.

WASHINGTON – Federal officials are moving forward with a proposal to allow target shooting on more than 470,000 acres of the Sonoran Desert National Monument – a stark change from a 2012 plan that would have limited shooting to just 84 acres.

“Best by.” “Sell by.” “Enjoy by.”

WASHINGTON – Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton had a message for the group of Western mayors gathered in the nation’s capital Wednesday to talk about water resources: It’s time to work together.

Editor’s note: FYI is an ongoing series of feature stories by Cronkite News digital production bureau students that help explain various issues that impact the Valley. TUCSON – Look up at the sky once the sun goes down. How many stars do you see?

GLENDALE – The New River Trail system now runs more than 20 miles from Happy Valley in Peoria all the way to Bethany Home Road in Glendale.

Arizona environmental experts attending the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Paris are expecting a substantial agreement to reduce global warming. And they hope it’s just the beginning of a worldwide commitment to save the planet before it’s too late.

A new study claims Arizona could save more than 15 billion gallons of water a year if 20 percent of the state’s energy came from rooftop solar. That’s enough to sustain 90,000 homes, or the population of Chandler, for one year.

MESA – Hoping to dispel the notion that there is a “very outdated perception of libraries as stuffy places with shelves,” the Mesa Public Library has started a seed library, where patrons can use the free seeds to start a garden, according to librarian Cherise Mead.

Leaves aren’t the only things blowing in the wind. Some trees may have price tags hanging from their branches.

WASHINGTON – Both sides agree that the Land and Water Conservation Fund should be restored, but they could not agree Wednesday on what the new fund should look like or how to spend the $900 million it receives in a typical year.

Arizona has managed its water supplies for decades as the state has grown, but as the drought reaches its 15th year, the state needs to do more to ensure there is water for the future, according to officials at the 107th Arizona Town Hall.

Clad in neon vests and sun hats, Brenton Scott leads a team of researchers through the desert landscape of the McDowell Sonoran Preserve and a web of trails used mostly by horseback riders and mountain bikers who know how to find them.

Because the length of the Arizona wildfire season, experts and some Senate members say more funding is needed for prevention.

Twenty-nine big horn sheep have a new home in the Catalina Mountains north of Tucson.

TUCSON – A whistle blows and little feet run through the hallway and out to the open courtyard of Manzo Elementary that contains the school’s garden. A frenzy of chatter and chicken squawks fill the warm November air.

SCOTTSDALE – From the southern slope of the McDowell Mountains, Frank Lloyd Wright’s winter home and studio still look out over the Valley, a place the famous architect called the “top of the world” after he built it in 1938.

Scientists at Arizona State University are developing new technology capable of capturing excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, a task they believe is paramount to current efforts to reduce emissions.

More than 500 people attended a concert by young Paraguayan musicians playing instruments made of recycled trash after a screening of the documentary “Landfill Harmonic” at the Scottsdale International Film Festival.

WASHINGTON – ASARCO will fund up to $150 million in pollution improvements at its Hayden smelter and pay millions more toward local environmental projects to settle federal government charges that the plant violated Clean Air Act standards.

Most Arizonans look forward to the cooler winter air and scattered showers. But asthmatic patients, such as Arizona State University student Haddi Meyer, find this time of the year the most challenging.

Nov. 2’s earthquakes originated from Black Canyon City and gave Arizonans in the Valley slight rumblings. | StoryMap: Significant seismic activity in Arizona

Arizona received a hefty grant this week to help fund the Canalscape project.

Government and private agencies are seeking to educate the public about bats and their vital role in the ecosystem. Cronkite News reporter Elizabeth Blackburn brings us the story from one such function at the Department of Interior in Washington, D.C.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed a recovery plan Tuesday for the endangered Gila chub that seeks to reduce threats from nonnative species and protect the fish’s degraded habitat in Arizona and New Mexico.

Local artist Beth Shook collects discarded furniture parts to create her artwork.

Severe drought affecting many parts of the nation is convincing skeptics of global warming to reconsider their position on the matter.

Bicyclists and motorists have a complicated relationship when sharing the roads of Phoenix. In each of the past five years, there have been an average of more than 450 bicycle involved collisions, according to the city of Phoenix website.

Phoenix residents can look forward to strolling along a beautiful canal soon — and they won’t have to leave the country to do it.

WASHINGTON – Arizona slipped two spots to 17th place in the 2015 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard released Wednesday, even though experts say the state still does very well in some areas.

By Jesse A. Millard Cronkite News University of Arizona and Arizona State University have been heavily involved with the exploration of Mars ever since the Viking missions, which resulted in the first successful U.S. mission to land a spacecraft on Mars’ surface. A UA undergraduate played a vital role in the discovery of liquid water.

How do homeowners prepare for the strong storms expected to hit the Valley in the next few days?

As a groundskeeper for a housing community in Phoenix, Terry Peterson has changed about 800 sprinkler heads to high efficiency water nozzles. Now he’s taking action at home.

Fresh off another punishing storm, Arizonans likely can expect to see a wet winter as El Niño conditions heat up the Pacific Ocean.

Editor’s note: This is the first in an ongoing series called FYI, an explanatory multimedia package produced by our digital production bureau.

CAMP VERDE – Dennis Ly heard about the pristine swimming holes at Fossil Creek from a neighbor. The clear blue, 72-degree water was a siren song in the middle of a fiery Arizona July. Determined to check out this desert oasis, he and three friends made the two-hour drive to swim and relax, but minutes.

Arizona dropped from first in the country to eighth in solar capacity additions, according to Environment America’s latest solar report, which also notes the drop comes “following the imposition of new fees on solar customers and near-constant attacks on distributed solar generation from the state’s biggest utilities.”

WASHINGTON – Tribal leaders from the Four Corners states met in Washington Thursday and called on President Barack Obama to declare 1.9 million acres in southeastern Utah a national monument.

Every day about 350 tons of waste materials venture through a series of conveyors and are organized into piles at the Waste Management recycling facility in Surprise. The end product results in towering stacks of bottles, paper, cans and other recyclable items.

Students and volunteers with Youth Build are constructing three homes.

Colorado resident Stephanie Heitz and her friends often travel to Arizona to take advantage of the winter weather and do some long-distance bicycling.

Monsoon season in the Valley brought storms that damaged approximately 300 trees in local parks, according to Greg Bach, public information officer for Phoenix Parks and Recreation.

WASHINGTON – The House approved a bill Thursday that aims to streamline the process of licensing energy projects on tribal lands, by shortening the time for federal approvals and limiting public comment on environmental impacts.

When the sprinklers come on in the Washington Elementary School District, you can bet the soil needs a drink.

TEMPE – Bike riders in Tempe are looking for ways to safely move around town.

The U.S Fish and Wildlife Service proposed listing two small species of Southwest fish as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The Tuesday proposal follows pressure from the Center for Biological Diversity, whose legal agreement with the federal agency hastened the designation of hundreds of imperiled species.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Monday removed the Sonoran desert tortoise from consideration for protection under the Endangered Species Act.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s reduction of its limit for ground-level ozone will put an additional seven Arizona counties out of compliance and pose a significant challenge, an official said Friday.

WASHINGTON – When Congress passed the short-term budget that headed off a government shutdown Wednesday, it included $700 million to replenish U.S. Forest Service accounts that had been raided in recent months to fight wildfires

Many groups have vocalized their opposition to the future South Mountain Freeway, but there are residents of Laveen who say they’re excited about it.

Technology has invaded the nation over the past decade, and staying connected means increasing demand for digital infrastructure.

FLAGSTAFF ­– Hunters usually leave the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s office just off Interstate 17 here with permits and tips from staff members on duty.

Scottsdale homeowner Luke Rosenberg said he was skeptical at first about installing an artificial turf putting green for his children.

GILBERT – Jeff Lee’s first stop at this home is the box holding the water meter. He furrows his brow upon finding the meter submerged.

This warehouse at the edge of the Northern Arizona University’s campus, home to surplus desks, computers and dressers, features solar panels across much of its south-facing exterior.

Broken tree limbs crushing cars. Giant walls of wind and dust moving across the Valley. Social media posts galore featuring wicked weather, including viral video of a microburst dropping on downtown Phoenix.

As the future South Mountain Freeway breaks through the barriers of limited accessibility and traffic congestion, it creates a new obstacle by cutting through land that the Gila River Indian Community finds sacred.

The Environmental Protection Agency recently released videos of the Gold King Mine spill in Colorado. The spill resulted in 3 million gallons of toxic wastewater spilling into the Animas River.

WASHINGTON – Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye on Wednesday blasted the Environmental Protection Agency’s handling of a toxic spill in the Animas River, saying the agency’s response left his tribe feeling abandoned, uncertain and hopeless.

Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton stresses sustainability advances in the state at Los Angeles symposium.

A lot would have to happen before a commuter rail line passes through Queen Creek, but Mayor Gail Barney sees great potential in the idea.

With Arizona home to thousands of abandoned mines, the head of a state environmental group says an incident similar to the recent toxic spill in Colorado could happen here.

CO2 from surfboards leaks into the ocean. One LA surfboard maker is working on a solution that will be more friendly to the environment.

Phoenix, and especially the zoo, are cleaning up after a massive storm that hit the city last week.