Water

washing hands with water
A bill to help rural Arizona manage its groundwater has stalled in the Arizona House.
Apr. 26, 2022
Tres Rios Wetlands
Falling levels in northern Arizona reservoirs have raised concerns about the state’s water supply during the ongoing drought. But other sources of water supplying metro Phoenix are at healthier levels.
Apr. 19, 2022
Lake Powell
The water challenges of the western U.S. were elevated last week when the Interior Department announced the possibility of implementing emergency cutbacks in the attempt to keep more water in Lake Powell, which has seen its levels sink to troublesome levels.
Apr. 18, 2022
Lake Powell
The U.S. Interior Department is considering emergency cutbacks to the water supplies for Arizona, California and Nevada.
Apr. 14, 2022
Quitobaquito
Renewal construction will soon be underway at Quitobaquito Springs, a cherished natural water source along the border at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.
Apr. 12, 2022
women walking in desert
An Indigenous nation in neighboring Sonora held a historic gathering last year to demand water for their communities on the Sea of Cortez. Now, they’re meeting again. This time in honor of their ancestors.
Apr. 8, 2022
water faucet
Upholding a Trump-era environmental policy, the Environmental Protection Agency says it will not regulate a drinking water contaminant that has been linked to brain damage in infants.
Apr. 1, 2022
Upper Salt River
Salt River Project harnesses the power of two rivers, the Verde and the Salt, and it taps into each river at different times of the year.
Mar. 28, 2022
Glen Canyon Dam
Climate change is quickly drying up Arizona’s two big reservoirs, Lake Powell and Lake Mead. As water levels plummet, the environmental effects are already being felt across the Southwest. But Tony Davis reports there’s another looming problem the low levels will cause: power supply.
Mar. 28, 2022
Turlock Irrigation District solar canal rendering
Two thousand to 2021 was the driest 22 year period since the year 800. But there’s a promising new pilot project in California that aims to conserve water while producing renewable energy.
More Arizona Science Desk news
Mar. 28, 2022
desalination equipment
Earlier this year, Gov. Doug Ducey proposed a $1 billion desalination project to ease Arizona’s water issues. Seth Seigel is an author who studied Israel’s use of desalination and other methods to solve its own water issues. He told PBS’s “Arizona Horizon” that desalination is helpful, but not a solution on its own.
More Arizona water news
Mar. 26, 2022
U.S. Capitol building
Two tribal leaders from Arizona testified to the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on Wednesday, defending a pair of bills brought by Sen. Mark Kelly and co-sponsored by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema that center on tribal water rights.
Mar. 23, 2022
Colorado River
The chairwoman of the Colorado River Indian Tribes is in Washington, D.C., this week to testify for a bill that would allow her tribe to lease its water to other parts of Arizona.
Mar. 22, 2022
Navajo Nation
The United States awarded $9 million in energy funding to 13 tribes across the country, including here in Arizona, on Monday.
Mar. 21, 2022
The amount of water in the lake is not only being affected from lower water levels at the top but also being limited from the floor below.
Mar. 21, 2022
Drought
U.S. government forecasters see a hot spring for much of the nation with drought in the West likely deepening. The West is in the midst of a record-shattering megadrought, and forecasters see it continuing.
Mar. 18, 2022
Phoenx Indian School Visitor Center
The Interior Department is on the verge of releasing a report on its investigation into the federal government's past oversight of Native American boarding schools. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said Wednesday the report will come out next month.
Mar. 17, 2022
International Outfall Interceptor
FEMA is spending $8.6 million to build a flood control basin near the border city of Nogales, Arizona, an area subject to intense flash flooding during monsoon season.
Mar. 13, 2022
water stream
Gov. Doug Ducey has unveiled plans to set up a new Arizona Water Authority, which would aim to look for — and pay for — new sources of water.
Mar. 7, 2022
Jace Miller's tractor
Persistent drought and rising temperatures have meant less water in the Colorado River system, which is relied on by 40 million Americans. But to this point, farmers in Pinal County have felt the effects much more acutely than others.
More about water on the Arizona podcast series InHospitable
Mar. 6, 2022

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