Stories - AZPM

A meadow along Canyon Creek, Tonto National Forest.

As Western fires burn, focus narrows on forest management. But it’s easier said than done

Correcting the mistakes of the past is tougher than it sounds, as managers work to get ahead of coming wildfires and learn from previous ones.

Eighteen plots are laid out on the hillside on Brian Mealor’s property in Sheridan County, Wyo. Mealor is studying how differing amounts of herbicide sprayed at different times of year can be used to manage invasive species.

In grasslands plagued by invasives and drought, wildfires fuel calls for new solutions

Invasive plants and climate change are changing the relationship between vast rangelands, drought and wildfire.

Between the High Park and Cameron Peak Fires, a broad reach of the Poudre River’s watershed has burned within the last decade.

For the West’s drinking water, wildfire concerns linger long after smoke clears

For municipal drinking water systems, fires are felt for years after they’re snuffed out.

The San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area in Cochise County, Arizona.

Latest lawsuit against Fort Huachuca over San Pedro water use seeks documents

A conservation group has again sued over what it says is a failure to protect the river and its dependent species.

An O'odham demonstrator stands in front of a pickup truck trying to break through a highway blockade the morning of Oct. 5, 2020.

O'odham-led demonstration blocks highway north of Arizona-Sonora border crossing

Demonstrations against border wall construction on ancestral Indigenous land continue despite Quitobaquito closure.

Water in the Rillito River following a monsoon storm. July 23, 2020

After Clean Water Act change, uncertainty reigns over water protections

The Trump administration's revision of which waterways are protected creates regulatory uncertainty, especially in arid places.

The Colorado River near Kremmling, Colorado, on Sept. 15, 2018.

Climate change likely to keep hammering Colorado River's biggest reservoirs, model shows

Projections show an increasing likelihood of official shortage declaration before 2026.

A Hia-Ced O'odham protester sits inside a vehicle to block construction on a stretch of border wall going up in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument on Sept. 9, 2020.

Indigenous activists arrested in demonstration against border wall construction near Quitobaquito Springs

Two O'odham protesters were arrested for impeding construction in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.

One of the spring-fed ponds at the San Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge in October 2019, which sits up against the U.S.-Mexico border.

Border wall groundwater pumping threatens to push endangered species to 'brink of extinction'

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials worry water pumping will deplete the San Bernardino Valley springs and aquifer.

Construction of 30-foot high steel bollard wall on or near the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge near Arivaca in July 2020.

Border wall construction heightens environmental concerns in sensitive habitats

Local residents, a sheriff and a wildlife expert weigh in on the impacts of physical barriers at the southern border.

Jason Graham, director of wastewater plant operations with the city of Fort Collins, pulls a plastic jug from a sampling machine at the Drake Water Reclamation facility.

In Colorado, your stool is a tool in the fight against coronavirus

To track the next coronavirus outbreak, Western states look to the sewers.

Cracked mud flats appear on the surface of Quitobaquito pond on July 18, 2020.

Scientists: Border wall construction wreaking havoc at Quitobaquito Springs

More than two dozen ecologists, biologists and hydrologists say the desert oasis is in worse shape than ever.

'A worst-case scenario': Leaks, dust, water pumping and drought plague Quitobaquito

Border-hugging spring and its pond are sacred to Hia C-ed O'odham and the Tohono O'odham communities

Scientists have been studying the Colorado River, shown here from above Deer Creek Falls, for nearly four decades to understand the environmental impacts of the Glen Canyon Dam on a water source used by around 40 million people in seven states. The environment, climate change, tribal rights and those water users will all be considered in river-management talks expected to begin later this year.

Humpback chub 'alien abductions' help frame the future of the Colorado River

While not considered very "charismatic," this keystone fish plays an important role in water policy.

A drone photo shows construction work beginning in the San Pedro riverbed on June 30, 2020.

Border wall construction begins across San Pedro River

The controversial project across Arizona's last free-flowing river is underway.

The Humboldt River between Lovelock and Winnemucca on February 25, 2020. The river provides water to towns along the I-80 corridor, mines, businesses and agricultural operations in northern Nevada.

In Nevada, investors eye underground water storage as a path to profits

Some worry certain projects could threaten supplies in a place where water is already tight.

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