Special thanks
to our supporters

  • NewsMatch
  • John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
  • Regional Transportation Authority/Pima Association of Governments
  • Newton B & Sunny Link Ashby
  • Dylan Smith
  • Stephen Golden & Susan Tarrence
  • CE Elliott
  • Roland Himmelhuber
  • Magdalena Barajas
  • Donna Mabry
  • kathleen carleton
  • & many more!

We rely on readers like you. Join them & contribute to the Sentinel today!

Hosting provider

Proud member of

Local Independent Online News Publishers Authentically Local Local First Arizona Institute for Nonprofit News
 1 2 3 4 >  Last »
An irrigation canal moves Colorado River water through farm fields in Yuma.

Arizona, California and Nevada have narrowly averted a regional water crisis by agreeing to reduce their use of Colorado River water over the next three years - but this deal only represents a temporary solution to a long-term crisis. Read more»

The water level in Lake Mead behind Hoover Dam in Feb. 2022. A new agreement among Arizona, California and Nevada offers a temporary fix to the region’s water issues.

State and federal officials are celebrating an agreement reached this week by Arizona, California and Nevada to reduce their use of Colorado River water by millions of gallons over the next three years - but it’s a temporary reprieve. Read more»

Tribal leaders, federal and state officials, and project and construction leaders gathered on May 19 for a groundbreaking ceremony at the construction site for the first phase of the Reclaimed Water Pipeline Project near Sacaton.

Only a month after finalizing funding agreements, Arizona's Gila River Indian Community broke ground on its new Reclaimed Water Pipeline Project to help the community with water resources and conserve more water in Lake Mead. Read more»

The Lower Basin Plan would result in greater protections for Lake Mead and Lake Powell than the alternatives analyzed in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement.

Arizona, California and Nevada have agreed on a plan to conserve 3 million acre-feet from the Colorado River over the next three years, and the Lower Basin Plan has the support from all seven Colorado River Basin States. Read more»

The West currently operates under a power trading mechanism called the Energy Imbalance Market, but some states are exploring efforts to better connect the region.

As much as two thirds of North America could face shortages of electricity this summer in the event of severe and protracted heat, according to the regulator in charge of setting and enforcing standards for the electric grid. Read more»

Boats sit in Lake Powell, the nation’s second-largest reservoir, which relies in part on snowmelt from the Rocky Mountains. As water reserves have shrunk, scientists have started to study the gap between snowfall and runoff.

Some years see a big gap between snowfall and the water runoff that follows, and while there is limited data on why the disparity happens, that gap has far-reaching implications for tens of millions of people who draw water from the Colorado River. Read more»

The Navajo Nation was hit by severe winter storms in January that caused heavy snow, flooding and mud.

Climatologists say years of worsening conditions across the West will take far more than this winter's storms to recuperate, and about 25% of the West still remains in drought — compared to 74% at the start of the water year this past October. Read more»

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation proposed three alternatives to supplement the 2007 environmental impact statement and interim guidelines, which govern operations along the Colorado River. The most severe cuts would hit tribal nations and agriculture users.

Following one of the wettest winters in recent history, Arizona officials anticipate a dry 2024 - as over the 23-year drought, the wettest years have always been followed by some of the driest - while federal water usage cuts loom. Read more»

A set of four tubes known as the 'river outlet works' allow extra water to flow through the Glen Canyon Dam. The flows are designed to take advantage of wet years and help wildlife habitats downstream.

An extra pulse of water was sent through the Grand Canyon, part of a Bureau of Reclamation “high-flow experiment” designed to redeposit sediment from Glen Canyon Dam in northern Arizona, and in response to above average spring snowmelt forecasts in the Rocky Mountains. Read more»

Lake Mead water levels behind the Hoover Dam in May 2022 show the effect of long-term drought on water levels there. One plan to prop up water levels in the Colorado River basin is to pay farmers in Upper Basin states to converse water.

California and Arizona are currently fighting each other over water from the Colorado River, but this isn’t new - it’s actually been going on for over 100 years; at one point, the states literally went to war about it - and the problem comes down to some really bad math from 1922. Read more»

'Strong Arm' was a well-known local saguaro killed by climate change. It won't be the last as carbon emissions threaten Tucson's future. The city has a draft plan to do its part to address the global problem.

Heat, drought and an invasive grass are driving wildfires killing the giant saguaros in Arizona, raising concerns about how the cactus will recover without human intervention. Read more»

Heavy rains have been a boon to California’s vineyards, helping them bounce back after years of drought. But the rains and snows from one of the state’s wettest winters on record has been a curse for farmers of other crops that have been devastated by flooding.

A stream of storms drenched both California and Arizona, and the intensity and frequency of rain marching through one of the most productive agricultural regions of the nation has blessed some farmers after years of drought, while devastating others. Read more»

Heavy rains have been a boon to California's vineyards, helping them bounce back after years of drought. But the rains and snows from one of the state's wettest winters on record has been a curse for farmers of other crops that have been devastated by flooding.

Una corriente de tormentas empapó tanto a California como a Arizona, y la intensidad y frecuencia de la lluvia que azota una de las regiones agrícolas más productivas del país ha bendecido a algunos agricultores después de años de sequía, mientras que ha devastado a otros. Read more»

The familiar white 'bathtub rings' show dropping levels on Lake Mead. The reservoir’s stores have been falling for years, setting records for new all-time lows.

Cuts to water use along the Colorado River could be spread evenly across some Southwestern states, or follow the priority system that currently governs water management, as federal officials consider ways to keep hydropower generation going at the nation’s largest reservoirs. Read more»

The Coolidge Dam and San Carlos reservoir impound the Gila River on the San Carlos Indian Reservation.

On the heels of one of the wettest Arizona winters in history, federal, state, local and tribal leaders united to announce a total of $233 million in funding for water conservation agreements to aid the Gila River Indian Community and other Colorado River users. Read more»

 1 2 3 4 >  Last »