Environment

National Weather Service releases flood updates in AZ

Residents in central Arizona should remain cautious as flooding may occur in the region over the next several days. That’s according to the National Weather Service which provided flood updates on Sunday for Tonto Creek in Gila County and in the Valley along the Salt River between the Granite Reef Dam to Tempe Town Lake.

Mar. 12, 2023

Rio Sonora communities want more protection from waste

Residents of the Rio Sonora valley are concerned about a major new tailings dam at a mine upstream. In 2014, a spill there caused what is considered the worst environmental disaster in Mexican mining history.

Mar. 9, 2023

Arizona Capitol copper dome statue Phoenix

AZ Legislature fails to take up groundwater, other conservation issues

In January, water policy analysts hoped that the Legislature would take action on Arizona’s shrinking groundwater supplies. But it appears that lawmakers will back burner the issue once more.

Mar. 8, 2023

As wolf numbers grow, some say their genetic diversity has fallen

Government wildlife agencies recently announced that the number of Mexican gray wolves in the wild grew by 45 animals last year. Conservationists welcomed the news, but believe that wolf recovery has room for improvement.

Mar. 7, 2023

Grijalva bill seeks to safeguard Oak Flat site

Oak Flat stretches across just over 2,400 acres of the Tonoto National Forest and is a sacred site to the San Carlos Apache Tribe and other Arizona tribes. A last-minute piece of legislation passed in 2014 put its future into the hands of a proposed mining operation called Resolution Copper.

Mar. 6, 2023

Maricopa County rejects water plan for Rio Verde Foothills

County supervisors on Friday rejected a city proposal to resume water service at triple the cost.

Mar. 3, 2023

Longer-lasting lightning more likely to cause fires as planet warms

Lightning is the chief source of natural wildfires worldwide, and research has shown strikes are likely to grow more frequent as the global climate warms. But a new paper suggests the news is actually worse than that.

Mar. 3, 2023

SRP begins low-level releases on Verde River

It has been a rainy winter in Arizona, so much so that SRP’s reservoir systems on the Verde River are nearly full.

Mar. 2, 2023

'Chocolate Falls' draws large crowds to remote Navajo area. These locals are pushing back

A group of Navajo residents living near what’s become a landmark waterfall in northern Arizona want to close it off to tourists and visitors, saying the increasingly popular area is being loved to death.
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Mar. 1, 2023

Word S9.3 — Shakespeare, hiking, poetry on vinyl and a haiku share some thematic space

Shakespeare, hiking in Arizona, poetry on vinyl and a haiku winner share some thematic space on this KJZZ podcast about literature in Arizona and the region. It's hosted by Tom Maxedon.
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Feb. 27, 2023

More snow expected for northern Arizona this week

Yet another snowstorm is expected in Arizona’s high country. Officials are telling residents to prepare.

Feb. 26, 2023

Heavy snow in Snowmass Colorado ski area

Snowpack in the upper Colorado River basin reaches annual average with more winter to go

Snow totals in the upper Colorado River basin have already reached their average annual peak much earlier than normal. Climate scientists say this is likely to help prop up reservoirs, but won’t be enough to turn around a decades-long megadrought.
→ More Arizona water news

Feb. 25, 2023

Baby and adult bald eagles nesting in Canada

Officials close part of Prescott National Forest to protect nesting bald eagles

Anyone looking to explore the Prescott National Forest needs to know about the current guidelines enforced to protect bald eagles. Visitors cannot access John’s Tank Trail located to the east of Lynx Lake.

Feb. 25, 2023

Humans are causing 2 different species of songbird to mate

Human activity appears to be causing two related species of songbirds to mate. The research finds disturbances to the habitats of the black-capped and mountain chickadees are leading to this hybridization in the Mountain West.

Feb. 23, 2023

Poll of western states shows Arizonans support land, water conservation

This year's Colorado College State of the Rockies poll shows a large number of Arizonans support preserving the state’s land and water.

Feb. 22, 2023

Utah uranium mill takes on low-level radioactive waste from Estonia

Conservationists say White Mesa Mill in southern Utah is processing radioactive waste from Europe.

Feb. 21, 2023

100K Black Americans moved to the Valley since 2010

The Great Migration took place during much of the early and mid 20th century and marked one of the largest movements of people in our country’s history as Black Americans moved out the South and into the rest of the country. Adam Mahoney says Black America is experiencing another great migration today.

Feb. 21, 2023