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More Pima County Environment Stories

A vacant lot is used as a place to stack and assemble sandbags for use by residents whose properties are at risk of flooding.

The Buzz: A strong monsoon brings road closures and floods

Why does some infrastructure get overwhelmed by above-average summer rain?

Aerial spraying to combat buffelgrass coming to Saguaro NP Wednesday

Aerial spray will target areas of high spread, while other treatments continue to be used in less affected areas.
Looking east towards downtown Tucson from Tumamoc Hill. From January 2022.

Pima County Issues Ground-Level Ozone Advisory

Thursday marks the second consecutive day of an advisory.
Fire managers have restricted campfires in Arizona to limit the risk of human-caused fire following a wet winter.

Some fire restrictions ease ahead of the holiday weekend

Officials warn to always check restriction status before starting a fire.
Part of the Contreras Fire burning near the Kitt Peak Nationla Observatory on June 16, 2022.

Contreras Fire listed as 100% contained

Local management team will hand over control Saturday.
Part of the Contreras Fire burning near the Kitt Peak Nationla Observatory on June 16, 2022.

Officials expect wet weather as Contreras Fire passes 20,000 acres

Fire continues to spread toward the northeast
Downtown Tucson, Oct. 23, 2019.

Pima County considers permit for company that will emit trace amounts of cancerous gas

The company previously violated air quality laws in Georgia
County officials and media tour a biogas refining plant at the Tres Rios Water Reclamation Facility, Oct. 21, 2021. The newly-dedicated plant will supply renewable natural gas, or RNG, to Southwest Gas, reducing the utility's demand for fossil-fuel based gas.

Biogas plant makes fuel, money for Pima County

Facility purifies waste methane for commercial use.
The sun shines harshly behind a saguaro cactus.

Low saguaro reproduction numbers at national park in Tucson

Drought cycle that dates to the mid-1990s thought to be responsible
At the St. Mary's Road access to The Loop at the Santa Cruz River Park.

Surveys aim to track trash making it into the Santa Cruz River

The Sonoran Institute is leading an effort to quantify the trash ending up in the river with the hope of eventually reducing it.
Indigenous-led protesters walk along a construction line in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in Sept. 2020.

Border wall scars: 'It feels like if someone got a knife and dragged it across my heart.'

Tribal leaders and Borderlands communities reflect on their fruitless struggle to stop the wall.
Too often, extra screen time before sleeping is incompatible with quality rest. "See Me Serene" is designed to be used as a relaxation tool.

Measuring Loneliness

Also on Arizona Spotlight: "See Me Serene" can add free positivity to your phone; The Cooper Center expands both online and in the desert; plus a song from Stories That Soar!
Lorraine Eiler's great grandfather was one of several Hia C-ed O'odham who used to live at Quitobaquito Springs.

After the wall, border residents take stock of what's next

The Trump administration is expected to finish 450 miles of wall by the end of the year.
Hikers on Mount Lemmon practicing social distancing.

More Santa Catalina trails and campsites reopen

The Coronado National Forest continues to evaluate safety conditions at trials and campgrounds in the wake of the Bighorn Fire.
Arizona Department of Safety officers surround and handcuff an Indigenous demonstrator during an O'odham-led blockade at a Border Patrol checkpoint on Highway 85 on October 12, 2020.

Indigenous Peoples' Day border demonstration ends with tear gas, arrests

11 demonstrators taken into DPS custody during a Border Patrol checkpoint blockade in Pima County.
Tribal members and supporters gather in front of the construction line to wave down O'odham runners coming from Sonora ahead of a cross-border ceremony at Quitobaquito Springs on Sept. 27, 2020.

NPS closes route to Quitobaquito Springs

Closure comes a day after O'odham leaders held a cross-border ceremony at the spring.

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