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Water levels in Lake Powell, seen here in May 2021, are dipping dangerously low. The federal government has proposed an unprecedented plan to cut back on water supplies for Arizona, Nevada and California. The measure aims to keep water levels high enough to generate hydropower at the Glen Canyon Dam.

The Buzz: Looking back on 2022

Newsworthy interviews and topics that we addressed this year.

Fighting Foodborne Illness

Sadhana Ravishankar has spent her career keeping agricultural products in Arizona safe, and was recently awarded Inventor of the Year by Tech Launch Arizona for developing natural antimicrobial washes.
The seven states in the Colorado River basin couldn't agree on a plan to conserve unprecedented amounts of water before a federal deadline. Meanwhile, grim projections for the future of water levels in Lake Mead have forced mandatory cuts to water for some users in the lower basin. Federal authorities are trying to prop up levels in the nation's largest reservoir before they dip too low to generate hydropower or allow the passage of water.

The Buzz: How will more Colorado River water cuts affect Southern Arizona?

Tucson's rights means municipal users aren't likely to feel the pinch, but the same can't be said for agriculture.
A saguaro cactus in the Grand Canyon National Park is in full bloom, displaying beautiful pink flowers.

Arizona Spotlight for August 11th, 2022

Native plants return to Hermosillo's urban landscape; Tucsonan John Rhodes tells about his family's rodeo history; Meet the new CEO of The Western National Parks Association; and a short story by Aurelie Sheehan.
Lake Mead and the rest of the Colorado River system are shrinking rapidly. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has called for new conservation measures, asking states to conserve a tremendously large amount of water, and giving them a 60-day timeline to formulate a plan for those reductions.

What will Arizona do as its share of Colorado River water diminishes?

We hear about efforts to reassess state allocations and what may come of a billion-dollar fund established this summer.
Tucson baker extraordinaire, Don Guerra.

A grassroots Tucson baker wins a national award for excellence.

Also on Arizona Spotlight: Renowned author Tom Miller reads from "Where Was I? A Travel Writer's Memoir"; Adiba Nelson shares truth about her first day on the job as a new mother; and remembering cowboy poet & philosopher Baxter Black.
A glass of beer on a table.

Making beer in Southern Arizona

This week, The Buzz focuses on the area's beer business, its growth and how it has felt the pinch of supply chain problems.
Commercial trucks travel through the Mariposa Port of Entry in Nogales.

$3.4B in produce came in through Nogales in 2021

After being slightly edged out by Hidalgo, Texas, for tomato imports in 2017, Nogales has maintained the top spot since then.

Arizona Spotlight for January 27th, 2022

With less water on the surface, how long can Arizona rely on what's underground? And, the Pima County Public Library's "Welcome to America Team" is helping Afghan immigrants to find their new home.

Adia Barnes on Teamwork and Motherhood.

Also on Arizona Spotlight:Can new technology save water on farms? Plus Chris Dashiell remembers Peter Bogdanovich, and a short story read by author Michelle Ross.
Precision-cut rows of broccoli grow on a laser-leveled field in Yuma, Arizona. Technological developments in agriculture are helping the industry use water more efficiently, but research shows that some methods are not helping save water on a basin-wide scale.

As the Colorado River shrinks, can new technology save water on farms? The answer is complicated

Agriculture uses about 80% of the water in the Colorado River basin.
Jazz guitarist, composer & educator Dave Stryker.

The Dave Stryker Quartet kicks off the 2022 Tucson Jazz Festival.

Also on Arizona Spotlight: The Cocopah Indian Tribe work to restore the Colorado River Delta; How Maryanne Chisholm's artistic vision guided her through difficult times; and the Sonoran Plein Air Painters share "A Brush with the Desert".

Researcher: More could be done to protect farmworkers from COVID-19

For the study, more than 30 farm workers in Sonora and Baja California were interviewed from mid- to late-2020.
A sprawling swath of the West is in drought, with more than 20 years of dryness in the Colorado River basin. Researchers say nearly every indicator of drought is heading in the wrong direction.

Drought monitors paint a bleak picture for the Colorado River

Four metrics are used to track drought, and they paint a bleak picture
Farmers Investment Co. president Dick Walden walks through his company's pecan farm.

Company to close pecan harvesting plant in southern Arizona

Farmers Investment Co. said processing pecans at the Sahuarita plant wasn't sustainable due to tariffs, low-cost competition from Mexican processors and financial impacts of COVID-19.
Will Thelander, of Tempe Farming Company, grows crops such as cotton and alfalfa but is also experimenting with guayule, a desert native plant that is being studied for the natural rubber it produces.

Arizona farmers prepare for water cuts

A third-generation farmer fears for the long-term sustainability of farming in Arizona.

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