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Biden looks to provide relief from extreme heat as record high temperatures persist
With heat waves spreading across the United States, President Joe Biden today plans to unveil new steps to protect workers, improve weather forecasts and make drinking water more accessible, the White House says.
Feds announce start of public process to reshape key rules on Colorado River water use by 2027
A public process started Thursday to reshape the way Colorado River water is distributed, with federal officials promising to collect comments about updating and enacting rules in 2027 to continue providing hydropower, drinking water and irrigation to farms, cities and tribes in seven Western U.S. states and Mexico.
Children – the next ones in the meat grinder
Much of what the states are doing violates federal law under the Fair Labor Standards Act that sets the floor on wages, hours and child labor.
How one Yuma farmer sees Arizona’s water future
The agricultural industry in Arizona is reliant on water flowing from the Colorado River. And as the Biden administration and federal agencies rush to remedy a looming water crisis in the Southwest, farmers in the state are concerned that directives from authorities could have an outsized effect on an integral part of the economy.
Rain, snow won’t be enough to end West’s drought
The West has been slammed by wet weather this winter: An “atmospheric river” has pummeled California with weeks of heavy rain and the Rocky Mountains are getting buried with snow. That’s good news for the Colorado River, but climate scientists say the 40 million people who use the river’s water should take the good news with a grain of salt.
Arizona’s alfalfa is essential, water crisis solution that leads to food supply issue is no fix
Concerns over the Colorado River have led the everyday Arizonan to think about water in ways they haven’t before. As a result, much has been made as of late about growing “thirsty crops” in Arizona’s desert climate. It doesn’t take long to find an opinion or editorial about how farming alfalfa is the embodiment of everything that is wrong with the water system in Arizona, but this rhetor[...]
Water needed to farm in desert, ensure residents’ health, safety
Farming in the desert ensures the health, safety, and well-being of each and every person who relies on an affordable, abundant food supply.
Arizona faces more water cuts under stepped-up Colorado River shortage
Arizona will lose an additional 80,000 acre-feet from its federally allotted Colorado River water rights next year, on top of a 512,000 acre-foot reduction already in place this year.
AZ relationship with water changed forever
Arizona promotes itself as a world leader in water management. Yet rural wells and rivers are drying up since sustainable water management plans are hindered by laws no longer appropriate for these times. Our relationship with desert water has changed, and our water laws must change too.
Agribusiness focuses on drought, not climate change
The Colorado River water shortages should not define Arizona agriculture as much as they should trigger changes toward a more resilient food system that we have needed all along. Let’s now jumpstart them in a bold manner.
Can agriculture use less water?
The time has come to start asking the hard questions. Does an industry that adds 1% to the state GDP have the right to mine our groundwater, destroy our flowing rivers, and take water that can never be replaced? Can this industry be reformed or modernized to use less water? How do we better protect Arizona's water resources so that flowing streams and rivers are not dried out by thirsty groundwate[...]
Ask the right water question
There are thankful ranchers across Arizona, myself included, after an extraordinary monsoon season that filled our scorched dirt tanks with water and re-seeded our rangelands with knee-high green grass. But well below the surface, and just up-stream, the drought persists.
