Before you do anything else, do take a look at this video by Trevor Noah…

Arizona

ARIZONA

As the sixth largest state, Arizona has a lot of land, and a lot of desert. Situated at the heart of the scorching American Southwest, Arizona regularly clocks in as one of the hottest states in the country and is home to the two hottest cities in the United States. As the Earth warms, Arizona’s 7.3 million residents face life-threatening rising temperatures and ever-dwindling water supplies. In 2021, 113 confirmed heat-related deaths in Maricopa County (which includes Phoenix) was double 2020’s number. Arizona’s homeless population will be particularly vulnerable to this health hazard. The dry, hot terrain also contributes to the state’s ongoing megadrought, which adds to a whole host of issues including the diminishment of the Colorado River, which supplies water to over a third of Arizona’s population. As temperatures have risen and drought intensified, wildfires have grown larger and burn more severely.

Arizona’s energy trends lend some hope, however. Per capita energy consumption in Arizona is already among the lowest in the nation, and the state is uniquely poised for a switch to renewable and clean energy. It has some of the best solar resources in the country and produces the nation’s highest-grade uranium — crucial for nuclear energy generation. Arizona has put this resource to work in the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, the nation’s largest nuclear power plant. Palo Verde generates more electricity annually than any other U.S. plantsecond only to the Grand Coulee Dam in total electricity generating capacity. Fossil fuels, unfortunately, continue to play a significant role. Since 2018, Arizona has reduced its dependency on coal but shifted to natural gas, which has become the state’s largest single energy source — generating one third of it’s power. The rest of the state’s energy comes from renewable sources, with a special emphasis on solar. Arizona ranks 5th in the nation for total solar installations.

In 2006, Arizona’s Climate Change Advisory Group was charged with preparing an inventory and forecast of Arizona’s greenhouse gas emissions and developing a Climate Change Action Plan with recommendations on how to reduce the state’s emissions. The report included a comprehensive set of 49 policy options.

By September of 2021, Arizona does not yet have a statewide adaptation plan despite the fact that they are the fourth-fastest warming state in the country. Local communities have taken up the battle as best they can. In 2009, Phoenix, the 2nd fastest warming city in the U.S., completed its  Climate Action Plan, which it plans to update by the end of 2021. Its goals: to become a carbon-neutral city by 2060 operating on 100% clean energy, with new buildings being net positive by 2050, and significant greenhouse gas reduction targets between 2025 and 2050. In July, 2020, Flagstaff declared a climate emergency. In September 2020, Tucson, the third fastest warming city in the nation, also  declared a climate emergency and will implement a decade long plan,  “Framework for Advancing Sustainability,”   to become carbon neutral by 2030.

Arizona lawmakers don’t make change easy. For example, in January of 2020, The Arizona Committee on Natural Resources and Energy voted to stop cities from prohibiting construction of natural gas-powered buildings.

In August, 2020, a highly anticipated meeting of the Arizona Corporation Commission ended abruptly, amid disputes over a roadmap to clean energy. In May, 2021  Arizona’s utility regulators rejected new rules that would have required most of the state’s electricity providers to get 100% of their power from clean energy sources by 2050 to limit carbon emissions and address climate change. Later that month the ACC, voted 3-2 to restart a rule-making process to establish a 100% clean energy standard for the state.  The commissioners are expected to vote on a final rule in the fall of 2021. Don’t hold your breath.

Or read the Sierra Club’s 2021 Environmental Report Card for the Arizona Legislature and Governor.

United Swing States of America - Arizona in the Grip of Climate Change | The Daily Show

CURRENT NEWS

Arizona will halt new home approvals in parts of metro Phoenix as water supplies tighten

By Brandon Loomis 06/01/23
The groundwater aquifers currently serving 4.6 million people across metro Phoenix are lagging behind growth on a trajectory that would run just short of projected needs in 100 years, according to a new state groundwater…
Read more

Biden administration pauses copper mining project on Oak Flat, a sacred Apache site

By Lyric Aquino 05/24/23
The Biden administration has put a pause on plans to erect a copper mine in Arizona on land known as Oak Flat, a site sacred to the San Carlos Apache and other Indigenous nations in…
Read more

Western States Finally Strike Colorado River Deal. But The Hard Work Has Only Just Begun

By Alejandro De La Garza 05/24/23
t one of Los Angeles’s main water treatment plants a few miles north of the Port of Los Angeles, a small-scale facility is demonstrating what might be part of the solution to the region’s water…
Read more

States near historic deal to protect Colorado River

By Joshua Partlow 05/17/23
After nearly a year wrestling over the fate of their water supply, California, Arizona and Nevada — the three key states in the Colorado River’s current crisis — have coalesced around a plan to voluntarily…
Read more

‘It’s gotten really ugly.’ A community of freedom-lovers squares off against climate change in the Arizona desert

By Osha Davidson 04/26/23
When I arrived at Karen Nabity’s place in Arizona’s Rio Verde Foothills on a spring afternoon, she opened the door and flashed a big smile. “Oh good!” she said, laughing as she ushered me inside.…
Read more

A wet winter won’t stave off the Colorado River’s water cuts

By Joshua Partlow 04/03/23
The abundant snow in the Rocky Mountains this year has been a welcome relief, but is not enough to overcome two decades of drought that has pushed major reservoirs along the Colorado River down to…
Read more

10 Places to See Wildflowers in the West

By Lauren Sloss 04/01/23
With the arrival of spring, there’s a silver, or really, a multicolored lining to the extreme weather that has battered the west all winter: the promise of wildflower-filled weeks and months ahead, particularly in Southern…
Read more

By The Time Water Gets To Phoenix

By Arthur Keith 03/26/23
“There is no shortage of water in the desert but exactly the right amount , a perfect ratio of water to rock, water to sand, insuring that wide free open, generous spacing among plants and…
Read more

S.Korea’s LGES revives Arizona battery factory with $5.6 bln investment

By Heekyong Yang and Hyunsu Yim 03/24/23
South Korea's LG Energy Solution Ltd (LGES) (373220.KS) said on Friday it would resume a stalled U.S. battery project with a $5.6 billion investment in Arizona to qualify for federal incentives rolled out under the…
Read more
CNN

Wall Street is thirsty for its next big investment opportunity: The West’s vanishing water

By Lucy Kafanov 03/22/23
Situated in the Sonoran Desert near the Arizona-California border is the tiny rural town of Cibola – home to roughly 300 people, depending on the season.
Read more

An Arizona plant will pull CO2 from the air and trap it in concrete

By Maria Gallucci 03/22/23
For the last two centuries, nearly all the concrete used in buildings, bridges, dams and roads has been held together with a key ingredient: Portland cement. The limestone and clay fusion is ubiquitous, inexpensive —…
Read more

A ‘private dispute’ may forever change Arizona water law, experts say

By Hunter Bassler 03/16/23
The bill raised a "red flag" for city water users in Arizona who predict it would pose a danger to groundwater aquifers throughout the state.
Read more

PLANS TO ACCELERATE RENEWABLES

Arizona community worries energy company will hog water supply

03/13/23
Residents in one western Arizona community worry that a clean energy company, which plans to build nearby, could hog their groundwater supply.

National Science Foundation awards $90.8M to ASU to advance X-ray science

03/08/23
The National Science Foundation today announced $90.8 million in funding to Arizona State University — the largest NSF research award in the university’s history — to advance groundbreaking research in X-ray science.

Arizona county approves solar-powered cobalt sulfate production facility

03/08/23
The facility expects to produce 7,000 tonnes of cobalt per year and calls for 28.4 MW of on-site solar power generating arrays to be installed on 105 acres of the company’s 139-acre property in Yuma…

Public Lands Are Responsive To The Increased Demand For Renewable Energy

03/02/23
Significant portions of BLM public lands have excellent solar, wind and geothermal energy potential, and the BLM works to provide proper siting for environmentally sound development of renewable energy on public lands. This is an…

New transmission line will increase energy reliability in Arizona and California

By Amber Victoria Singer 02/06/23
A 125-mile transmission line is being built between Arizona and California, after nearly a decade of planning. The line, called the Ten West Link, will make it possible to send solar and wind energy between…

Without an energy office, will Arizona get its full share of the Inflation Reduction Act?

02/01/23
In November 2015, the five remaining state employees assigned to secure federal funds for energy efficiency on behalf of Arizonans were abruptly let go from their jobs and their roles were dissolved. It was another…

Federal funds help fast-growing Arizona city address several infrastructure challenges and needs

01/30/23
Joe Giudice, public works director for the city of Phoenix, says the influx of new residents is driving a lot of construction in his community. “Phoenix is the fifth largest city in the United States.…

Harris visits West Valley to applaud renewable energy project

01/30/23
Vice President Kamala Harris visited Tonopah on Jan. 19 for the groundbreaking of a new renewable energy project called Ten West Link.

A Copper Mine Could Advance Green Energy but Scar Sacred Land

01/27/23
Tribal groups are fighting an Arizona project whose backers say increasing the supply of copper, crucial to batteries, would reduce fossil-fuel use....

In Arizona, the Future of Renewable Energy Is on the Ballot

12/06/22
When political pundits call Arizona a key swing state in November’s midterm elections, they’re talking about the races for control of the US Senate and House. But it’s a down-ballot contest that makes Arizona a…

Revolve’s 250-MW Arizona solar project to be shovel-ready in 2024

11/16/22
Revolve Renewable Power Corp (CVE:REVV) expects that its 250-MW Parker solar project with battery storage in Arizona to enter the ready-to-build stage in 2024, the Vancouver, Canada-based company announced today.

These four U.S. nuclear plants will start producing clean hydrogen

11/14/22
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is partnering with utilities on four hydrogen demonstration projects at U.S. nuclear power plants.

AZ Corporation Commission approves changes to plan to expand wind power in Arizona

11/14/22
The Arizona Corporation Commission has approved a modification to a plan for new transmission lines. The vote could pave the way for more wind energy in Arizona. 

Flagstaff’s Climate Action and Adaptation Plan

04/02/20
The Flagstaff Climate Action and Adaptation Plan is a road map for how Flagstaff will prepare for and respond to climate change.

City of Phoenix Climate Action Plan for Government Operations

04/02/20
Phoenix has been recognized as a leader in environmental stewardship and sustainability and has a long history of implementing pollution control and natural resource conservation programs.

Arizona Climate Change Action Plan

04/02/20
Arizona's Climate Change Advisory Group, formed by executive order, was charged with (1) preparing an inventory and forecast of Arizona's greenhouse gas emissions, and (2) developing this Climate Change Action Plan with recommendations for reducing…

KEY RESOURCES

Images of change

07/03/22
Disappearing Lake Mead, Nevada-Arizona Border

Arizona State Profile and Energy Estimates

09/23/21
Arizona is known for its stunning landscapes and natural wonders from the Grand Canyon in the north to the Saguaro deserts in the south. The state has few fossil fuel reserves, but it does have…

Energy State Bill Tracking Database

09/10/21
The searchable Energy Storage Legislation Database displays information in interactive maps and charts, tracking state activity from 2017 to the present.

Sustainable Cities Network

11/09/20
Connecting communities, advancing sustainability, and cultivating solutions.

The First National Flood Risk Assessment

10/06/20
The First Street Foundation Flood Model represents the culmination of decades of research and development made possible by building upon existing knowledge and frameworks regularly referenced in the identification of flood risk.

The Impacts of Climate Change and the Trump Administration’s Anti-Environmental Agenda in Arizona

09/19/20
Between 2017 and 2019, Arizona experienced one drought and one wildfire. The damages of each event led to losses of at least $1 billion.

State-by-State: Arizona

07/31/20
Arizona is vulnerable to increasing heat, melting snowpack, droughts, and wildfires

Preparing for Climate Change in Arizona

04/02/20
Arizona has not developed a statewide adaptation plan. Other resources from the Adaptation Clearinghouse, which have been developed by the state and localities to help communities prepare for climate change, are highlighted below.

Arizona state at risk

04/02/20
States at Risk is a project aimed at showing how Americans in all 50 states are experiencing the impacts of climate change. Our work focuses on five threats — extreme heat, drought, wildfires, coastal flooding…

Renewable Energy Standard & Tariff

04/02/20
In 2006, the Commission approved the Renewable Energy Standard and Tariff (REST). These rules require that regulated electric utilities must generate 15 percent of their energy from renewable resources by 2025. Each year, Arizona's utility…

MORE NEWS

Simple solutions could reduce heat inequities in Phoenix

By YCC Team   03/15/23  
“By June, just about every day is going to be over 100 degrees,” says Agustin Gastelum of Rail CDC, a community development organization in Mesa, just east of Phoenix.
Read more

Drought forces water cuts in Arizona town

By Alasdair Baverstock   03/14/23  
As climate change worsens drought conditions in many areas around the world, communities are struggling to adapt.
Read more

Flagstaff students organize climate strike

By Abigail Kessler   03/14/23  
Friday morning, Flagstaff students gathered outside of City Hall for a climate strike organized by Flagstaff High School’s (FHS) Environmental Coalition.
Read more

Research: hotter, drier conditions limit Arizona forest recovery from wildfires

By Alex Gonzalez   03/13/23  
(Arizona News Connection) New research has found hotter and drier climate conditions are making it less likely for forests in Arizona and across the Western United States to recover after wildfires.
Read more

How do you grow crops with no water? A rancher on the Gila River is trying an old approach

By Jake Frederico   03/13/23  
A modest home sits alone on a stretch of dirt road about 25 miles from Gila Bend. In the backyard, Annie, a Great Pyrenees, her white fur desert-stained, retracts under the shade of a mature…
Read more

Who gets harmed as the Colorado River changes?

By Jennifer Pitt   03/09/23  
National and regional media love a good fight, and lately a day doesn’t pass without a major news story or op-ed focused on Colorado River disagreements, particularly amongst the seven states of the Colorado River…
Read more

Jaguars, leopard frogs, condors: Here are some of Arizona’s most imperiled species

By Jake Frederico   03/03/23  
Herds of bison graze on the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park, endemic fossil spring snails cling to rocks found only in streams in parts of the Coconino National Forest, and bald eagles spread…
Read more

We are no longer in transition. The climate change future is here for food, ag and nature

By Jesse Klein   02/28/23  
For the land, water and farming sectors, we are already living in the climate crisis. Are you still talking about transition risk?
Read more

Water, climate change, land protection are key legislative issues for environmental groups

By Jake Frederico   02/20/23  
As a 20-year megadrought intensifies the effects of climate change across the Southwest, causing shortages on the Colorado River, increasing the frequency and magnitude of wildfires and putting wildlife and human health in danger, the…
Read more

Could Arizona’s new governor shift Colorado River politics?

By Jonathan Thompson   02/16/23  
The newly elected Democrat brings something that’s long been absent in Arizona water politics: common sense.
Read more

Environmentalists grow frustrated as lawmakers cast shade on bills instead of schools

By Joan Meiners   02/15/23  
It was already warm for a February day when Vania Guevara, advocacy deputy director for CHISPA Arizona, stepped to the mic at Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza near the state capitol with a dozen local environmental…
Read more

As Climate Change and Overuse Shrink Lake Powell, the Emergent Landscape Is Coming Back to Life – and Posing New Challenges

By Daniel Craig McCool   02/12/23  
As Western states haggle over reducing water use because of declining flows in the Colorado River Basin, a more hopeful drama is playing out in Glen Canyon. Lake Powell, the second-largest U.S. reservoir, extends from…
Read more

100,000 Green Jobs Announced Since US Adopted Climate Law, Study Finds

By Carly Wanna   02/06/23  
Between last August, when President Joe Biden’s landmark climate bill became law, and the end of January, companies have announced more than 100,000 clean energy jobs in the US, according to an analysis released Monday…
Read more

Colorado River crisis is so bad, lakes Mead and Powell are unlikely to refill in our lifetimes

By Rong-Gong Lin 11 and Ian James   02/06/23  
The snowpack in the Sierra Nevada is the deepest it’s been in decades, but those storms that were a boon for Northern California won’t make much of a dent in the long-term water shortage for…
Read more

Shrinking Colorado River hands Biden his first climate brawl

By Annie Snider   02/04/23  
A fracas among the seven states along the drought-stricken Colorado River is forcing the first major reckoning for the Biden administration over who should bear the pain of adapting to a changing climate.
Read more

The “Law of the River” at the heart of the Colorado River crisis

By Hayley Smith and Ian James   02/03/23  
It’s a crisis nearly 100 years in the making: Seven states — all reliant on a single mighty river as a vital source of water — failed to reach an agreement this week on how…
Read more

Climate justice organization tackles urban heat and more in Arizona’s Maricopa county

By Jesenia De Moya Correa   02/01/23  
Chispa AZ’s “Clean and Green” campaign addresses extreme heat, air quality, and social inequities — with a focus on the voices of residents. The post Climate justice organization tackles urban heat and more in Arizona’s…
Read more

What is Valley fever? Fungal infection from the Southwest may spread with climate change.

By Adrianna Rodriguez   02/01/23  
The HBO series “The Last of Us” has brought awareness to the growing threat of fungal infections. While there’s no known fungus that turns humans into sporous zombies, health experts say one pathogen may become…
Read more

Arizona Can’t Keep Growing Without Finding More Water

By Adam Minter   01/31/23  
The 23-year drought that’s parching the Southwest is forcing Arizona to make a bitter choice. Unless developers can find new sources of water, the state’s largest master-planned housing development is going to remain a desert.
Read more

As the Colorado River shrinks, Washington prepares to spread the pain

By Christopher Flavelle   01/27/23  
The seven states that rely on the river for water are not expected to reach a deal on cuts. It appears the Biden administration will have to impose reductions.
Read more

In California’s Imperial Valley, farmers brace for a future with less Colorado River water

By Ian James   01/27/23  
Just north of the California-Mexico border, the All-American Canal cuts across 80 miles of barren, dune-swept desert. Up to 200 feet wide and 20 feet deep, the canal delivers the single largest share of Colorado…
Read more

The Colorado River is overused and shrinking. Inside the crisis transforming the Southwest

By Ian James and Molly Hennessy-Fiske   01/26/23  
The Colorado River begins as melting snow, trickling from forested peaks and coursing in streams that gather in the meadows and valleys of the Rocky Mountains. Like arteries, its major tributaries take shape across Colorado,…
Read more

A river guide’s view of Lake Powell’s decline and the depths of the Colorado River crisis

By Ian James   01/26/23  
Muddy water whizzed past as John Weisheit steered a motorboat upstream in the Colorado River. He revved the engine as the boat sped around a bend and up a riffle.
Read more

Can cities eliminate heat-related deaths in a warming world? Phoenix is trying

By Emma Loewe   01/24/23  
Regional Carrillo could walk to his last job in five minutes. In most places, it would be a pleasant commute. But in Phoenix, where summer days routinely top 110 degrees Fahrenheit (and can feel like…
Read more

Longroad Energy begins construction of 285 MW solar, 860 MWh storage project in Arizona

By Stephen Singer   01/19/23  
Renewable energy developer Longroad Energy announced Wednesday it has begun construction of a solar-plus-storage project in Arizona. The 285 MWdc PV and 215 MWac/860 MWh system is expected to begin commercial operations in 2024 and…
Read more

How Pinal County farmers are dealing with historic cuts to Arizona’s Colorado River water supply

By Whitney Clark   01/18/23  
Farming thousands of acres of alfalfa, Bermuda grass, and more, isn’t just a job for Jace Miller: it’s in his blood. “My great-great-grandfather came and homesteaded in gilbert in 1919 and began farming,” Miller said.…
Read more

Arizona city cuts off a neighborhood’s water supply amid drought

By Joshua Partlow   01/16/23  
The survival — or at least the basic sustenance — of hundreds in a desert community amid the horse ranches and golf courses outside Phoenix now rests on a 54-year-old man with a plastic bucket…
Read more

Arizona Is in a Race to the Bottom of Its Water Wells, With Saudi Arabia’s Help

By Natalie Koch   12/26/22  
Arizona’s water is running worryingly low. Amid the worst drought in more than a millennium, which has left communities across the state with barren wells, the state is depleting what remains of its precious groundwater.…
Read more

Amid drought, Arizona contemplates a fraught idea: Piping in water from Mexico

By Joshua Partlow   12/23/22  
As Arizona's water supply from the Colorado River dwindles, it is studying a $5 billion project to desalinate ocean water in Mexico and pump it 200 miles across the border....
Read more

How Arizona’s Border Wall Could Stop Animals Escaping From Climate Change

By Ciara Nugent   12/15/22  
As Arizona governor Doug Ducey’s term draws to a close, he’s rushing to cement his legacy: a bunch of battered, rusty shipping containers. Since Oct. 24, crews have double-stacked 900 of the metal boxes at…
Read more

Global warming is ripping up the grassy street medians of the American West

By Sam Metz, Kathleen Ronayne and The Associated Press   11/18/22  
A group of 30 agencies that supply water to homes and businesses throughout the western United States has pledged to rip up lots of decorative grass to help keep water in the over-tapped Colorado River.
Read more

Green is the Verde: How an Arizona river became a water conservation success story, for now

By Joan Meiners   11/16/22  
The cicadas along the river corridor through Camp Verde are deafening, possibly more so on the eastern bank. That’s where a conservation easement has protected the land from a spate of development by Phoenix residents…
Read more

Tribes in the Colorado River Basin are fighting for their water. States wish they wouldn’t.

By Jessie Blaeser, Joseph Lee, & Anna V. Smith   11/16/22  
In early November, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a case brought by the Navajo Nation that could have far-reaching impacts on tribal water rights in the Colorado River Basin. In its suit, the…
Read more

Regulatory approval for SunZia Transmission paves the way for a Southwest renewable energy corridor

11/15/22  
Pattern Energy Group, a renewable energy developer, announced its SunZia Transmission project received the approval of the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) to build a 550-mile high voltage direct current transmission line from New Mexico to…
Read more

AZ foresters to use prescribed burns to help manage wildfire risk

By Ron Dungan   11/15/22  
As the weather cools, Arizona’s fire season becomes a thing of the past. But fire managers are taking advantage of autumn weather. Historians say that fire is a natural part of the landscape. But foresters…
Read more

Impact of the megadrought: Arizona cattle ranchers slashing herds to cut costs

By Justin Lum   11/15/22  
The reality of the water crisis is stark and the effects of the southwestern region’s mega-drought continue to trickle down on cattle ranchers in Arizona. From 2019-2021, 336,000 cattle have been sold through auctions across…
Read more

The future of water in Arizona

By Mary Beth Faller   11/15/22  
The landscape at Lake Mead in Arizona looks apocalyptic. Drastically lowered water levels that have left a “bathtub ring” around the perimeter and uncovered junk that was thrown into the reservoir decades ago have changed…
Read more

Arizona’s winters expected to get wetter thanks to climate change, research shows

By Hunter Bassler   10/27/22  
Monsoon marks when the Sonoran Desert turns from dry and dusty to wet and windy. However, it's not the season that best helps replenish Phoenix's water supply, according to numerous researchers at a recent conference…
Read more

The Arizona climate that could have been: How Napolitano would put the state back on track

By Joan Meiners   10/26/22  
The Monday in January when Janet Napolitano took office as Arizona's first Democratic governor in a decade was warm, but not exceptionally so. The high of 65 degrees fit in the upper range of normal for temperatures recorded in Phoenix on…
Read more

Deadliest summer for heat-related deaths in Arizona’s biggest county

By Associated Press   10/25/22  
Maricopa county’s 359 heat-associated fatalities this year outpace 339 deaths confirmed in 2021, figures showThis summer was the deadliest on record for heat-related deathsin Arizona’s largest county, with public health statistics this week confirming 359…
Read more

With $6M grant, researchers will explore how Southwest communities can best adapt to climate change

By Catherine Broski   10/25/22  
In the desert, the climate can be fickle and intense. While it's mostly hot and dry, there can also be wet and cool conditions interspersed throughout the year. On top of this variability, the desert…
Read more

Titanium dioxide coating could keep roads and bike paths cooler

By YCC Team   10/18/22  
Biking or walking on a hot day can make you feel like you’re in an oven because dark pavement absorbs and retains heat. But applying a special coating to streets and bike paths could help…
Read more

Sierra Club gives poor marks to AZ utilities on climate change response

By Ron Dungan   10/18/22  
The state’s major utilities have publicly committed themselves to clean energy. But conservationists say they have a long way to go if they are to meet their goals. The Sierra Club recently issued a nationwide…
Read more

Phoenix could see deadliest year for heat deaths after sweltering summer

By Nina Lakhani   10/08/22  
Extreme heat contributed to as many as 450 Deaths in Phoenix.....
Read more

Disconnected and ‘dehumanized’: How thousands across Phoenix survive without running water

By Zayna Syed   09/11/22  
Tim Wiedman caught COVID-19 last December. A few days later, he developed bronchitis. A double whammy, he called it. The illnesses sapped his energy so much that, for six weeks, he could barely get off…
Read more

Facing ‘dead pool’ risk, California braces for painful water cuts from Colorado River

By Ian James   09/04/22  
California water districts are under growing pressure to shoulder substantial water cutbacks as the federal government pushes for urgent solutions to prevent the Colorado River’s badly depleted reservoirs from reaching dangerously low levels.
Read more

The Fight Over The Colorado River’s Water Is A Symbol Of The Larger Climate Crisis

By Alejandro De La Garza   08/29/22  
There’s something familiar about the high stakes water use drama playing out in the U.S. Southwest. The mighty Colorado River serves as an economic artery of the region, powering massive hydroelectric dams and supplying water…
Read more

A New Round of Colorado River Cuts Is Announced

By Henry Fountain   08/16/22  
With water levels in the Colorado River near their lowest point ever, Arizona and Nevada on Tuesday faced new restrictions on the amount of water they can pump out of the river, the most important…
Read more

See How Far Water Levels in Lake Mead Have Fallen

By Winston Choi-Schagrin   07/22/22  
In 2000, Lake Mead was full of deep, midnight-blue water that flooded the banks of the rivers that fed it. But 20 years later, it has shrunken drastically. And its basins are lighter, too, almost…
Read more

A Painful Deadline Nears as Colorado River Reservoirs Run Critically Low

By Henry Fountain   07/21/22  
States in the Colorado River basin are scrambling to propose steep cuts in the water they’ll use from the river next year, in response to a call by the federal government for immediate, drastic efforts…
Read more