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Paid not to farm? Expanded Colorado River program divides farm community
With water levels in Lake Powell and Lake Mead at record lows, federal officials are ready to spend tens of millions of dollars to get farmers and other water users to conserve this year and keep the reservoirs from falling farther.
Mayes investigating whether to try to block grocery chains’ merger
Attorney General Kris Mayes is investigating whether to try to block the proposed merger of the state's two largest grocery chains.
Managing rural groundwater use goal of state official
Will new urgency around Arizona’s water woes lead to more action on the decades-old issue? Arizona Department of Water Resources Director Tom Buschatzke said he thinks so, and there’s a few specific things he has in mind for the next few years under new Gov. Katie Hobbs.
Hobbs pivots water focus to conservation
Gov. Katie Hobbs wants to expand groundwater conservation efforts in Arizona’s rural areas.
Vertical farm in Avondale promotes sustainability, technology, water conservation
Imagine a farm that grows crops on platforms in a controlled environment, uses 99% less water than a traditional farm and grows seasonal produce year-round – all without soil or anyone driving a tractor. This is the goal of OnePointOne, a 12,000-square-foot “vertical farm” in an Avondale industrial park. Water is an existential issue for Arizona, with the two major reservoirs on the Colorado[...]
Arizona restricts farming to protect groundwater supply
The Arizona Department of Water Resources this week put a limit on the amount of land that can be watered, designating the Hualapai Valley as an irrigation non-expansion area. That means anyone who hasn't farmed more than 2 acres there during the past five years can't.
Ex-federal official to head Central Arizona Project
Former U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Brenda Burman will be the next general manager of the Arizona entity that distributes much of the state's water from the Colorado River to major metropolitan areas.
Drought in Western US heats up as a Senate campaign issue
In a midterm campaign season dominated by inflation, abortion and crime, there's another issue that is becoming more urgent in Western states: drought.
Climate change contributing to worsening drought
Climate change is causing hotter temperatures in Arizona and other areas of the Southwest, leading to drought conditions that are leaving Colorado River states grappling with what actions to take next.
Ranchers, farmers have a water obsession
It’s been said that “obsession is a young man’s game.” If that’s the case, Arizona’s farmers and ranchers will be forever young, thanks to their obsession with water. Water is... […]
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.
Water shortage to keep Legislature busy in ‘22
Add a water shortage with serious implications for Pinal County farmers to the challenges lawmakers will have to deal with when the Legislature comes back in 2022.
