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Arizona Sustainability News
SUSTAINABILITY
In a major announcement June 1, Arizona officials halted new housing on the edges of the Phoenix metro area. The issue? Not enough groundwater. The shortage is made more complicated by the shrinking Colorado River.
June 5, 2023
For the second time in a year, Phoenix is earmarking millions in federal funds to add trees and shade canopies to neighborhoods disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.
June 5, 2023
The Phoenix City Council unanimously approved a plan Wednesday to give up a share of its Colorado River allocation in exchange for money.
May 31, 2023
The nation's second-largest reservoir has been shrinking as drought and steady demand strain the Colorado River. Lake Powell water levels are low, but canyons and ecosystems are emerging.
May 30, 2023
A multiday power outage during a heat wave could kill almost 13,000 Phoenicians and leave half the population vying for the city’s 3,000 emergency room beds due to heat stroke or other heat-related illnesses.
→ More Arizona science news
→ More Arizona science news
May 26, 2023
Light rail extensions disrupt business and traffic. Using steel rods to reinforce concrete beneath the tracks further slows the process while raising sustainability and worker safety concerns. So Valley Metro used an alternative on its current northwest extension.
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→ More Arizona science news
May 25, 2023
The IndyCar Series is experimenting in slower speed races with a highly sustainable new tire whose production leaves a relatively small carbon footprint. The Show trekked out to Eloy and rural Mesa to see how this tire is made.
May 25, 2023
The Show spoke with Luke Runyon, who covers the Colorado River for KUNC in Colorado about what the future of the Colorado River means for all of us who live in these states.
May 22, 2023
During the pandemic, health officials encouraged people to send up a flare when burnout and hopelessness were becoming too much. Recently, scientists facing other, more persistent crises – climate change and biodiversity loss – did exactly that.
May 22, 2023
The U.S. government is greenlighting a proposed multibillion-dollar transmission line that would send primarily wind-generated electricity from the rural plains of New Mexico to big cities in the West.
May 18, 2023
Contaminants pose threats to Arizona's increasingly precious supply of drinking water. Treatment plants can catch and remove a lot of those contaminants. But how strong is that safety net — and the regulations that knit it together?
→ More Arizona water news
→ More Arizona water news
May 18, 2023
Policy makers are continually grappling with the challenge of a smaller share of the Colorado River to supply a rapidly growing population. But as quantity becomes a bigger concern, so too does quality — and the threats posed by pollutants.
→ More Arizona water news
→ More Arizona water news
May 16, 2023
The Show spoke with Laura Crossey, Ph.D., a professor at the University of New Mexico who specializes in groundwater research, about the project, and the state of the Grand Canyon’s water supply.
May 15, 2023
One might think that plants that thrive in the Sonoran Desert and nearby ecosystems would be well suited for climate change, but researchers found they have had difficulty adapting to a warmer planet.
May 15, 2023
The U.S. Forest Service has announced it will spend more than $23 million on a backlog of maintenance projects in Arizona and New Mexico. The funding will support 27 projects across the two states, including visitor access, land and water conservation, and recreation infrastructure.
May 15, 2023
Many Arizonans are concerned about the future availability of water. But in the community of Rio Verde Foothills, just outside of Scottsdale, the taps have already run dry. What’s the likelihood of other developments running into the same problem?
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→ More Arizona water news
May 12, 2023
The University of Arizona is launching a five-year project to develop a new variety of natural rubber. The goal is to expand natural rubber production in the Southwest and offer a solution for growers amid the ongoing water crisis.
May 9, 2023
Saguaro Land is a series from The Show looking at the Sonoran Desert — the lushest, hottest desert in the world that happens to be our home. The Show spoke with an artist who transforms invasive plants into art.
May 4, 2023
As efforts to conserve the region’s most precious resource continue, agencies like Central Arizona Project fund cloud seeding projects in upper Colorado basin states with the goal of increasing snowpack that will melt into the Colorado River and flow into the Grand Canyon state.
April 30, 2023
A new bipartisan infrastructure deal includes funding for water conservation efforts across the West. More than $11 million will go to five specific projects in Arizona.
April 28, 2023
