Here’s how less than 10% of farmland could solve the Colorado River’s water deficit
Lake Mead formed by Hoover Dam/Cronkite News By Bruce Babbitt, opinion contributor/Arizona Republic Opinion: A voluntary program could eliminate the million acre-foot overdraft on the Colorado River while still maintaining the dominant role of agriculture./(Editor’s note: Opinion pieces are published for discussion purposes only. It is no exaggeration to say that a mega-drought not seen in […]
Read More →COVID-19 stopped Arizona’s public groundwater debate – and just when it was getting good
Aquifer levels are continuing to drop, some by alarming numbers. Opinion: Public groundwater planning efforts have mostly ground to a halt, and just when the work was pivoting from fact-finding to solution-making./ (Editor’s note: Opinion pieces are published for discussion purposes only.) By Joanna Allhands | Arizona Republic The clock is ticking for Arizona’s limited groundwater supply. Aquifer […]
Read More →SCOTUS ruling threatens property rights and Trump administration’s dereg efforts.
By Christian Britschgi | Reason The U.S. Supreme Court has set the stage for continued conflict between environmentalists, polluters, and property owners with a muddled decision that attempts to establish the outer boundaries of the federal government’s power under the Clean Water Act. In a 6-3 ruling handed down on Thursday in Maui v Hawaii Wildlife Fund—which dealt […]
Read More →Buckeye adopts a plan to find more water as city rapidly expands
By Joshua Bowling | The Republic Buckeye leaders recently approved a plan that outlines the city’s current water supplies and how much the suburb some 40 miles west of Phoenix needs to acquire to grow sustainably. Buckeye, the fastest-growing city in the U.S., doesn’t have the water it needs to meet its loftiest population projections. It has relied since […]
Read More →Timeline begins for implementation of Trump WOTUS rule
NAHB Now The Federal Register today published the final “Navigable Waters Protection Rule” (NWPR), which is the Trump Administration’s new definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS). Publication of the rule marks a major step forward in efforts to clarify federal jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act. Today’s milestone starts a 60-day timeline, after […]
Read More →Report: Arizona’s Colorado River water supply will hold steady next year
A state water manager says voluntary water reductions as part of the drought contingency plan are working in the short term./Lake Mead/AZPM By Ariana Brocious | Arizona Public Media Arizona’s water supply from the Colorado River will remain consistent into next year. That’s good news in the eyes of state water managers. Under the drought […]
Read More →Navajo Nation’s water shortage may be supporting COVID-19 spread
Workers for Dig Deep’s Navajo Water Project prepare an underground 1,200-gallon water cistern to provide a family with running water in their home. /Photo: Dig Deep By Debra Utacia Krol | Arizona Republic Three winters ago, Sen. Jamescita Peshlakai experienced firsthand the impact of the lack of running water or other basic infrastructure for many […]
Read More →Arizona, neighbor states begin work on new plan to address drought
By Andrew Nicla | The Arizona Republic As decades of drought persists, water leaders in Arizona and other states that depend on the Colorado River are working on a plan to adjust what could be a new normal they say is fueled by climate change. This time, they’ll be working with less water. Over the […]
Read More →Prescott’s bid to draw more groundwater could threaten Verde River
Average water levels in the Verde River could drop if the Prescott City Council votes to draw more groundwater from the Little Chino Aquifer, which is supported by the river. /Photo by Christopher Howley/Cronkite News By Christopher Howley/Cronkite News The Verde River, one of the few perennial rivers in Arizona, is known for its fishing […]
Read More →Miller gives update on solutions studied by Pinal water group
By Mark Cowling | Casa Grande Dispatch FLORENCE — Pinal County Supervisor Steve Miller, R-Casa Grande, provided an update last week on the stakeholders group he chairs, which is studying water solutions for the Pinal Active Management Area. The group has met more than a dozen times since December and has brought two proposals to […]
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