Arizona Sustainability News
SUSTAINABILITY
The Navajo Nation has approved a couple of solar projects that will provide electricity to tribal communities.
A new law passed this week in neighboring Sonora, Mexico, aims to crack down on the use of single-use plastic in part by banning non-biodegradable plastic bags.
Apr. 15, 2021
As the intense Southwest drought continues, there has been discussion for a number of years about when — not if — Arizona’s allocation of Colorado River water would be reduced. It sounds very much like that will happen in 2022.
Apr. 13, 2021
Late last month, Cannon Beach Mesa broke ground as the next generation of water park. But not everyone is excited about a new water park in the midst of an ongoing drought.
Apr. 12, 2021
A desert city built on a reputation for excess and indulgence wants to become a model for restraint and conservation with a first-in-the-nation policy banning grass that nobody walks on.
Apr. 12, 2021
Beneath the surface, the amount of moisture held in the ground can play a big role in how much water makes it down to rivers and reservoirs — and eventually into the pipes that feed homes and businesses.
Apr. 8, 2021
In neighboring Sonora, Mexico, members of the Indigenous Comcaac Nation, often called the Seris, have long struggled for access to clean water in their two towns on the Sea of Cortez. Last Saturday, they walked miles to a sacred site for their people to demand the Mexican government provide them with potable water and other basic services.
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Apr. 1, 2021
The Biden administration has appointed Havasupai Councilwoman Carletta Tilousi to serve on its Environmental Justice Advisory Board.
Mar. 31, 2021
Researchers have captured new footage of a jaguar just a few miles south of the border in neighboring Sonora, Mexico. Conservationists say that could be a sign that the species’ breeding range may be extending north.
Mar. 25, 2021
Recent studies found there’s likely less water in Moab’s aquifer than previously thought. Now, the tightening water supply has led to a reckoning over the consequences of development and the virtues of conservation.
Mar. 24, 2021
NextEra Energy Resources is planning to build a renewable energy farm in Coconino County. The Babbitt Ranch Energy Center northwest of Flagstaff would have 61 turbines, up to 600 acres of solar panels and a battery storage facility.
Mar. 24, 2021
When the Trump administration rolled back part of the Clean Water Act last summer, Arizona was left in a lurch. The state relied on the landmark law to keep its arid streams free of pollution. But with the federal protections limited, Arizona decided to come up with its own set of water quality standards.
Mar. 22, 2021
A showdown is looming on the Colorado River. The river’s existing management guidelines are set to expire in 2026. The states that draw water from it are about to undertake a new round of negotiations over the river’s future, while it’s facing worsening dry conditions due in part to rising temperatures.
Mar. 22, 2021
Officials in California hope a restoration project along the southern edge of the Salton Sea steers the region away from an ecological and public health disaster.
Mar. 16, 2021
Arizona Congressman Raúl Grijalva has introduced a bill to protect the Oak Flat area of Tonto National Forest. The bill is the latest attempt to stop a foreign company from developing one of the biggest copper mines in the U.S.
Mar. 15, 2021
Drought has forced several states to rethink how they use the Colorado River, but Utah is trying to figure out how to get more water out of it. Utah’s plan to build a pipeline from Lake Powell to the St. George area has raised eyebrows from the six other Colorado River Basin states.
Mar. 15, 2021
In Mexico, a drastic change to the energy laws benefiting the State over private companies had been signed by the president. But in less than 24 hours, the Mexican Supreme court suspended it.
Mar. 12, 2021
Every year, hundreds of thousands of sandhill cranes fly south from northern North America to the southern U.S. to winter in warmer climates, including Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. This year, a record 47,000 cranes were recorded in mid-January between Whitewater Draw and the nearby Willcox Playa, which is a dry lake most of the year.
Mar. 10, 2021
House Republicans voted to strip the Arizona Corporation Commission of its power to require utilities to get more electricity from solar and other clean energy sources. The bill would bar the regulators from adopting new proposed standards that would require most of the state’s utilities to get half their power from solar, wind and other renewable sources by 2035.
Mar. 4, 2021
It has long been reported that Arizona's water supplies are shrinking. A year-end environmental impact study quantifies the ongoing crisis, showing how Arizona residents feel about the shortage and the difficult allocation choices that lay ahead.
Feb. 27, 2021
The president of Conservatives for Responsible Stewardship says Arizona House Bill 2248 and its companion Senate Bill 1175 — which strip the commission’s powers to mandate use of renewable energy — will actually alienate conservatives.
Feb. 27, 2021