Shorter showers or rip up your lawn?: Conserving water is mostly an outdoors job
PHOENIX – Saving water is critical to living in prolonged drought, but most of Arizona’s use is outdoors – three-quarters of it for agriculture. To really save water, experts say, we need to think bigger than turning off the faucet while brushing our teeth.
3D printing and foam: Arizona organizations make homes more sustainable
PHOENIX – Amid climate change and an affordable housing crisis in Arizona, organizations have developed housing solutions, including using 3D printing and plastic foam, to make buildings better for the environment and for tight budgets.
Fight over Resolution Copper Mine drags on – and both sides expect more
WASHINGTON - Lawmakers, federal regulators and courts have been grappling with challenges to the proposed Resolution Copper Mine in Oak Flat for years, and while the two sides agree on little, most agree that the debate is likely to continue for years to come.
Supreme Court ruling against EPA hurts, may not hobble clean air in Arizona
WASHINGTON - Advocates say a Supreme Court ruling that said the EPA cannot force power plants away from fossil fuels cost the agency an effective tool for reducing greenhouse gas emissions - but it's not the only tool, and help may be coming from an unlikely source.
From heat deaths to worsening allergies, climate change harms health
PHOENIX – Concerns about the impact of the climate crisis on health are driving doctors, nurses, medical students and others to advocate for change. The American Medical Association recently declared climate change a public health crisis and said it would push for more policies meant to limit global warming.
Beavers engineering resistance to onslaught of climate change
BOULDER, Colorado – Across North America, beavers create marshy mosaics to keep themselves safe, but their industriousness also is a powerful tool in fending off the damage of climate change, researchers say. But laws regarding beavers as pests need to be changed, they say.
Hualapai leader urges Senate to OK water plan, as wells fail in drought
WASHINGTON – Hualapai Chairman Damon Clarke told a Senate committee Wednesday that getting access to Colorado River water is "the only feasible solution" for his tribe, whose wells are failing under the stress of the continuing drought.
‘A mini-Grand Canyon’: Desert opens up as aquifers decline in Cochise County
SULPHUR SPRINGS – Cities and agricultural operations put intense pressure on groundwater supplies, but in most of Arizona, no rules govern how, when and how much can be pumped. In Cochise County, fissures are appearing as the water table falls, and some residents are pushing to establish an Active Management Area to regulate pumping.
$1 billion investment to acquire, conserve water is signed by Ducey
PHOENIX – Gov. Doug Ducey on Wednesday signed a bipartisan bill allocating more than $1 billion for water projects and reestablishing the authority of the Water Infrastructure Finance Authority of Arizona.
National park tourism, spending recovers from pandemic but still lags
WASHINGTON - National parks in Arizona welcomed 10.7 million visitors who pumped $1.12 billion into local economies in 2021, both sharp increases from the pandemic-induced lows of the year before, but still shy or pre-pandemic levels, according to a recent report.
Colorado River water managers face federal call for unprecedented cuts
Water users in the overtaxed Colorado River Basin have fewer than 60 days to come up with a plan to keep 2 million to 4 million acre-feet in the system to prop up Lakes Mead and Powell, and if they can’t, the Bureau of Reclamation says it will take action.
Firefighters get pay boost, say more needed as wildfires keep growing
WASHINGTON - Advocates welcomed the announcement that federal firefighter pay will increase by as much as $20,000 this year, a potentially "life-changing" step for the chronically underpaid crews. But they say more still needs to be done to attract and retain firefighters.
