Category Archives: Water Issues

Plan to Help Fish in Central Arizona Lakes Gets Underway

Photo by George Andrejko/AZGFD.

The Arizona Game and Fish Department has begun dropping fake plants and other habitat into Roosevelt Lake. Widely varying lake levels at Roosevelt pose problems for natural vegetation.

The work is part of a larger plan, the Tonto National Forest Lakes Habitat Improvement Project, which seeks to help bass and crappie bounce back and boost the sustainability — and fishing prospects — of Salt River reservoirs and Bartlett Lake.

Read/listen to my full story at KJZZ’s Arizona Science Desk:
Arizona Game and Fish Installs Artificial Fish Habitat in Roosevelt Lake

Invasive Algae Kills Thousands of Shad in Arizona Lake

Apache Lake, Arizona (photo by Bernard Gagnon).

A population explosion of golden algae, a fast-growing invasive plant, has killed thousands of threadfin shad and some gizzard shad at Apache Lake, a reservoir in central Arizona.

Read/listen to my full story at KJZZ’s Arizona Science Desk:
Algal Toxin Kills Thousands Of Fish In Apache Lake

Beyond the Shadow of a Drought: Southwest U.S. Megadrought Nears Certainty

A dry riverbed in California.
Photo courtesy National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The risk of a severe, multi-decade drought hitting the Southwest United States by the end of the century could reach as high as 99 percent if greenhouse gas emissions continue along current lines, says a paper by a team of scientists from Cornell University, Columbia University and NASA.

Read/listen to my full story at KJZZ’s Arizona Science Desk:
Worst Case: Megadrought Risk Near 99 Percent Under Current Greenhouse Emissions

Climate Change Expands Western U.S. Forest Fires — With Plenty of Help

Smoke from Arizona's Wallow Fire lends color to an Albuquerque, NM sunset. Photo by John Fowler.
Smoke from Arizona’s Wallow Fire lends color to an Albuquerque, NM sunset. Photo by John Fowler.

Human-induced climate change has doubled forest fire damage in the West over the past 30 years, says a study published online early by the journal PNAS. But human effects on fire extend far beyond climate.

Read/listen to my full story at KJZZ’s Arizona Science Desk:
As Western US Forest Fires Expand, Plenty Of Blame To Go Around

Spotting Fracking and Pumping Effects from Space

2011-2014 Hydraulic Fracturing Water Use (square meters/well)
Map by U. S. Geological Survey.

Using a technique called satellite radar interferometry, researchers have spotted millimeter-scale ground uplift surrounding four high-pressure injection wells near the eastern Texas city of Timpson. Two of the wells were located directly above a spate of record quakes that struck Timpson in 2012, topping out with a 4.8 magnitude quake on May 17. The other two were located within six miles of the quakes.

Read/listen to my full story at KJZZ’s Arizona Science Desk:
ASU Researcher: Satellite Radar Links Wastewater Pumping To Earthquakes