The one that got away: A look at Glen Canyon 40 years after it was filled
When work on the Glen Canyon Dam was finished on the Colorado River in 1966, it marked an important development for water management in the West and created Lake Powell. It also marked a grim milestone for environmentalists who have never forgotten the loss of the spectacular canyon.
Central Arizona housing boom tees up opportunity for water investors
PHOENIX – The Phoenix water-investment company Greenstone stands to make millions if state and federal regulators approve the transfer of water rights from La Paz County land it owns to fast growing Queen Creek. Critics call the deal a start down a slippery slope as urban areas of the state attract more and more people during a long term drought.
Grand Canyon businesses claw back, slowly, after 2019, 2020 setbacks
PHOENIX - This was looking to be a bounceback year for Grand Canyon-area merchants after a down 2019, but that all changed when COVID-19 hit. After closing for part of the spring, the park has reopened on a a limited basis and tourists are coming back, but business officials say times are still tough.
ADOT rolls out new dust detection system to help drivers on I-10
PHOENIX – The Arizona Department of Transportation has a new dust detection system along 10 miles of Interstate 10 between Phoenix and Tucson to help drivers stay safe during dust storms. The technology arrived just in time for Arizona’s monsoon season.
High winds, parched conditions prompt red flag wildfire warnings
PHOENIX – The National Weather Service issued red flag warnings for most of Arizona on Monday, meaning the state is at a heightened risk of fire due to dry conditions and high winds.
Critical of critical habitat: Endangered turtle haven abuts border wall
PHOENIX - The endangered Sonoyta mud turtle was granted 12.3 acres of protected habitat this week - but supporters worry that that habitat may no longer provide all the protection the turtles need, since it will be right next to the site of border wall construction.
San Pedro River, squeezed by growing population, is subject of two lawsuits
PHOENIX – The Sierra Club announced it has joined the Center for Biological Diversity and a number of other conservation groups in two lawsuits to protect the San Pedro River, one of the last undammed rivers in the Southwest.
Cattle damage to Arizona’s Verde River spurs legal action
PHOENIX – The Center for Biological Diversity and its partners are seeking to sue the U.S. Forest Service over cattle damage in the Verde River watershed.
For now, no border wall will split Cocopah reservation along the Colorado River
TUSCON – The Cocopah Indian Tribe has lived along the river delta for centuries.
Tribal leaders say border wall, other projects continue to threaten sacred, historic sites
PHOENIX - As President Donald Trump was hailing the pace of border wall construction Tuesday, Tohono O'odham Nation Chairman Ned Norris Jr. was bemoaning a project he says continues "to destroy … sacred sites.” Norris was one of five tribal leaders talking about the threats to sacred sites.
Two Arizona tribes, advocacy group join suits over EPA’s clean-water rule rollback
PHOENIX - Two Arizona tribes and a Phoenix-based advocacy group joined a pair of lawsuits this week to reverse a Trump administration clean-water rule that critics said would open the "vast majority of Arizona’s waterways" to pollution and degradation.
In crossing Arizona’s last free-flowing river, border wall construction also erodes trust
BISBEE – Cochise County officials and conservationists are frustrated that Customs and Border Protection is ignoring local input as it pushes ahead with a barrier across the San Pedro River, which flows north from Mexico and is one of the last undammed rivers in the Southwest.
