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@azcenvironment

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Environment and climate news from @azcentral, with support from the Nina Mason Pulliam Trust.

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By the time you read this, Rachel has weakened to a tropical storm, nearing its turn toward the Southwest. Showers and isolated are expected between Saturday and Tuesday, Oct. 10-13, but specified times are still shifting. Stay tuned for more updates.

Video by Tevian Whitehurst/The Republic 📹️ by @azcenvironment

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2 days ago

Our newspaper print team does this cool thing where they really take their time designing our Sunday front pages for our biggest stories. Sometimes they even bring in an illustrator to work with the reporter (as in this case) to make it shine. That means our Sunday papers often feature not the news of the immediate moment, but those deeper features and investigations that really make you sit and think about our modern shared reality.

Plus, it’s just nice to crack open a physical newspaper and sit with your coffee among the fall leaves to read a bit about the world — as observed, investigated and recorded by the local reporters living and experiencing it all right alongside you.

Today, Sunday, Oct. 4, 2026, you can pick up a copy of my investigation — written as a mystery story, because that’s what it was — that originally ran in June. It starts with the question of why anyone would nominate 320,000 acres of land in the Arizona Strip for oil and gas leasing…where there is no #oilandgas. It takes you through a checklist of possibilities related to land grabs, water schemes, hydrogen or helium or gypsum. And it ends with an answer about *who* would do this, and what that may mean about the cultural, political and physical forces reshaping our #publiclands.

Grab a copy at an Arizona gas station or grocery store and check it out! Someday you might want to show some kids what a newspaper was. (You can also read it online FOR FREE at the link in my bio.) Thanks for supporting #localnews.

And just as a fun fact: this story + my intro to it + my climate leader feature that also ran in this issue = I have about 8,000 words in print today in one of the top 20 largest newspapers in the U.S., which is neato IMO taken in Arizona Strip by @azcenvironment

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6 days ago

Now that monsoon has officially wrapped up, let’s tally the results! Thanks to the recent tropical moisture, Phoenix was able to reach average rainfall, but there’s a lot of variance across the Valley and the whole state. Like in nearly all higher elevations, seasonal rain totals of 8 to 20 inches soared far above average. It’s continuously helped with drought conditions. by @azcenvironment

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8 days ago

A U.S. Appeals Court declined to rehear a case that allowed a land exchange of the sacred Apache site Oak Flat to a copper mining company. The mine would open up a crater at Oak Flat over time, and opponents, including tribal and environmental groups, have vowed to continue their legal fight.

Here's what's happening at the link in bio. 🔗

Written by Debra Utacia Krol ✍️ | Photos by Thomas Hawthorne and Michael Chow/The Republic 📸 by @azcenvironment

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9 days ago

Hurricane Polo already supplied moisture this week that gave Arizona scattered storms and flooded New Mexico. After a dry weekend, more tropical moisture could come to the Southwest, ending the monsoon on a rainy note.

Video by Tevian Whitehurst/The Republic 📹 by @azcenvironment

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15 days ago

Hualapai activists are walking 1,200 miles across Arizona to draw attention to mining operations on tribal lands. The walk is a protest against a proposed lithium mine near the Hualapai Tribe's sacred Ha'Kamwe' hot spring.

Full story at the link in bio. 🔗

Written by Arlyssa D. Becenti ✍️ | Photos provided by DJ Portugal and Joel Angel Juárez/The Republic 📸 by @azcenvironment

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16 days ago

Arizona saw more rainfall than any other state in the Lower 48, according to weather.city. A whopping 969 billion gallons of rain fell across the state, fueled by moisture from a tropical disturbance.

Video by Tevian Whitehurst/The Republic 📹️ by @azcenvironment

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22 days ago

Peak storm activity is expected overnight Tuesday, Sept. 15, through late Wednesday afternoon, with storms arriving in waves.

A flood watch is in effect for heavy rainfall and flooding risk, while temperatures could cool into the 90s Wednesday and Thursday.

Video by Tevian Whitehurst/The Republic 📹️ by @azcenvironment

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25 days ago

Desalination is often mentioned as a potential solution to Arizona's water shortages as Colorado River flows are reduced. But experts warn that desalination is energy-intensive, expensive and creates a salty waste product called brine. It also would require agreements with other states or Mexico.

Full story at the link in bio. 🔗

Written by Joan Meiners ✍️ | Photos by Mark Henle and Joel Angel Juarez/The Republic 📸 by @azcenvironment

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25 days ago

Can the president delist an endangered species by executive order? Supporters of the targeted Mexican gray wolf say he can't.

Here's what's happening at the link in bio. 🔗

Written by Sarah Henry ✍️ | Photo by Mark Henle/The Republic 📸 by @azcenvironment

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Arizona, along with the U.S. as a whole, saw record warmth in summer 2026. Many factors were at play that led to broken temperature records across the board, including an active monsoon and a powerful El Niño developing at at breakneck speed.

Video by Tevian Whitehurst/The Republic 🎥 by @azcenvironment

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My latest in a series answering reader questions about the pros and cons of ideas for solving Arizona’s water shortages — recently worsened by cuts to the state’s allocation of Colorado River water — is out in print and online today @azcentral | The Arizona Republic.

For this story, I talked to three experts on desalination and then wrote about the tradeoffs related to this process of pumping and removing salt from seawater or brackish groundwater. This option has been discussed in Arizona for decades but has not been implemented…for reasons. These, I was interested to learn, are not only economic, logistical and environmental, but also about security concerns related to putting our water infrastructure under the control of coastal states or countries in the midst of a continually drying #climate.

The solution to Arizona’s #water future will not be one fix, but MANY that are all pursued simultaneously…and soon, my sources explained. These will necessarily include not just water importation (appealing as that relatively simple idea may be), but also, certainly, incentivized conservation and legal conversion of agricultural use.

None of this is simple. Much of it relies on Arizonans electing officials who will make decisions based not on private profits (ahem, #datacenters), but on the water security of future humans AND the environments in which we exist.

So, get yourself registered and ready to vote, Arizona.

And if you are thinking about subscribing but need a preview of this story to finally decide, 😉 shoot me an email and I’ll send you a pdf. by @azcenvironment

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