-
A bill that would permanently raise federal wildland firefighter pay has been introduced in the U.S. House, with bipartisan backing. While not the comprehensive reform many wanted, advocates are hopeful that the Wildland Firefighter Paycheck Protection Act can be passed in time to avoid substantial pay cuts.
-
Late last week, Arizona Congressman Raúl Grijalva and New Mexico Senator Martin Heinrich introduced the Clean Energy Minerals Reform Act. It would make a number of changes to the Mining Law of 1872, including the collection of royalties from hardrock mining.
-
Cuts to water use along the Colorado River could be spread evenly across some southwestern states, or follow the more than a century-old priority system that currently governs water management. Those are two alternatives federal officials are considering to keep hydropower generation going at the nation’s largest reservoirs according to a draft plan released Tuesday.
-
Senators from the seven states that use water from the Colorado River are convening to discuss its future. Colorado Democrat John Hickenlooper created the group as climate change and steady demand are shrinking supplies.
-
A new database reveals that museums and universities across the U.S. still hold the remains of more than 100,000 Native Americans, despite a federal law passed more than 30 years ago to help return their remains to tribes.
-
A Nevada water agency has taken the first concrete step toward accounting for evaporation and other losses in the Colorado River’s Lower Basin. The new analysis attempts to pinpoint exactly how much water is lost, and who should cut back to bring the system closer to a balance between supply and demand.
-
In the Colorado River basin, agriculture accounts for about 80% of all the water used. As the river’s supply shrinks, and some farms start to make cutbacks, many are wondering if new technology can help with water conservation. Research suggests that it may not.
-
Nancy Caywood’s Pinal County farm should have a full field of alfalfa, but since the irrigation district shut off her water because of drought, her fields are empty and dry.
-
In Arizona, fields of crops and a growing sprawl of suburban homes mean a increased demand for water in the middle of the desert. Meeting that demand includes drawing from massive stores of water in underground aquifers. But some experts say groundwater is overtaxed, and shouldn’t be seen as a long-term solution for a region where the water supply is expected to shrink in the decades to come.
-
After another long, dry summer across the West, reservoirs in the region remain at record-low levels. It will take years of wet winters to climb out of drought, and La Niña conditions mean this winter is unlikely to bring one.