The governor and his staff are playing an integral role in bringing Arizona water interests together to reach an internal state agreement on the drought-contingency plan.

There’s no quicker way to put an audience to sleep than to delve into the intricacies of water policy but voters are increasingly waking up to the issue.

In a major victory for environmental groups and the Havasupai Tribe, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rebuffed a bid by mining interests to overturn a 20-year ban on extracting uranium from about a million acres around the Grand Canyon National Park.

Gov. Doug Ducey made gains on several issues — most notably K-12 education funding — this session, but his plans for far-reaching water reform quickly dried up.

The Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station is the nation’s largest power producer, and if the Clean Energy for a Healthy Arizona initiative appears on the ballot in November, voters will decide the plant’s future.

Water is life. Its management is a state trust responsibility. In Arizona’s arid environment, rivers, streams, and springs are vital to sustaining a diversity of plants and animals and are tied to the well-being of human communities and our state and local economies.

The proposal by Sen. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, would limit future ballot measures to "one subject,'' with a requirement that be spelled out in the title.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected arguments by the National Mining Association and allied groups that it was illegal for Kenneth Salazar, the Interior Secretary in the Obama administration, to withdraw about 1 million acres around the park to new mining claims for 20 years.

Arizona lawmakers and advocates are condemning proposed fee increases at the Grand Canyon and 16 other parks, a move the National Park Service said is badly needed to fund billions of dollars in backlogged maintenance projects.

The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality expects reductions in grant funding from the federal Environmental Protection Agency, but a lack of specifics have impeded planning.