Arizona

Drought and water overuse urge construction restrictions in parts of Phoenix

PHOENIX — Arizona will not approve new housing construction on the burgeoning end of the Phoenix Subway, which relies on groundwater after years of overuse and decades of drought have depleted its water supply.

At a press conference on June 1, Gov. Katie Hobbs announced regulations that could affect some of the fastest growing suburbs of the nation’s fifth-largest city.

Officials said developers could continue to build in the affected areas, but would need to find alternative water sources, such as surface water or recycled water, to do so.

Driving the state’s decision were projections that over the next 100 years, about 4.9 million acre-feet of groundwater demand in the Phoenix metropolitan area would not be met without further action, Hobbs said. One acre-foot of water is roughly enough for two to three of his households in the United States for a year.

Despite the move, the governor said there is no shortage of water in the state. “Those who have water never lose it,” says Hobbes.

Officials said the measure would not affect existing homeowners who have already secured water supplies.

Hobbes added that the 80,000 unbuilt homes can go ahead with construction because they already have secure water supply certificates within the Phoenix Active management area, a designation used to regulate groundwater. rice field.

Phoenix relies on imported Colorado River water and uses water from the state’s Salt and Verde Rivers. The city’s small water supply comes from groundwater and recycled wastewater.

Droughts have made groundwater, which is stored in underground aquifers and takes years to replenish, even more important.

Under a 1980 state law designed to protect the state’s aquifers, Phoenix, Tucson, and other Arizona cities set limits on the amount of groundwater that can be pumped. However, in rural areas there are few restrictions on its use.

new mexico

Biden orders 20-year ban on oil and gas drilling to protect tribal sites near Chaco

SANTA FE — The Biden administration on June 2 ordered hundreds of square miles of New Mexico outside the Chaco Cultural National Historical Park, which tribal communities hold sacred, to be withdrawn from further oil and gas production for the next 20 years.

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland’s new order applies to public lands and related mineral rights within a 16-mile radius of the park. This does not apply to private, state or tribal owned entities. Existing leases are unaffected.

A World Heritage Site, the Chaco Culture National Historical Park was once the center of indigenous civilization, and many tribes in the Southwest are believed to have traced their roots to high-altitude desert outposts.

A recent assessment released by the Interior Ministry showed that the withdrawal would prevent dozens of wells from being drilled.

The New Mexico Oil and Gas Association claims that the plan will remove federal mineral resources from its board, leaving additional leases on Navajo lands and plantations owned by inland Navajo individuals. bottom.

Navajo officials have made similar claims, saying millions of dollars in annual oil and gas revenue benefit the tribe and individual tribe members. The Navajo tribe completed its own investigation last year and insisted on securing a smaller area given the economic impact of the withdrawal on the tribe.

The Bureau of Land Management said the 10-mile radius would help protect more than 4,700 known sites outside the Chaco Cultural National Historical Park, with a 5-mile radius containing about 2,800 of them.

Officials confirm state’s first case of fungal disease in hibernating bats

SANTA FE — White-nosed syndrome, a fungal disease of hibernating bats, was first confirmed in New Mexico, officials announced on June 5.

Samples of two live and two dead bats were collected in late April from caves managed by the Federal Bureau of Land Management in Lincoln and Devaka counties, according to the State Department of Game and Fish.

These two counties are far from Curry County, where Carlsbad Caverns is located.

Game and Fish officials said the two dead bats were confirmed to have white-nosed syndrome (striated myositis in Lincoln County and cavermyositis in Devaka County).

They said white-nose syndrome is caused by an invasive fungal pathogen previously detected in New Mexico in 2021, but no evidence of bat disease has been identified in New Mexico so far.

Officials say the disease has killed millions of bats in North America since 2006.

A powdery white fungus develops on hibernating bats’ skin, often on their faces, causing inflammation and dehydration.

As such, bats leave hibernation early and use up the fat they need to survive the winter, often leading to their death.

Neither fungi nor diseases affect humans.

Idaho

Families sue to block law banning gender-affirming care for minors

BOISE — The family of two transgender teenagers filed a lawsuit on June 1 to stop the state of Idaho from enforcing a ban on gender-affirming medical care for minors.

The ban, signed in April and scheduled to go into effect in January 2024, violates federal constitutional guarantees of equal protection for teenagers and due process for their parents, surviving families said. said in a filing with the U.S. District Court.

Plaintiffs, who are represented by attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union, argue that the statute does not allow doctors to administer puberty-preventing drugs, hormone treatments, or surgery to minors. It points out that it is a felony only if it is for grooming. gender identity. The same processing is permitted for other purposes.

The lawsuit was anticipated even before the ban was signed and follows a pattern in Republican-dominated states. In recent years, at least 20 countries have enacted laws and policies banning gender-positive care. Some are new and not yet enabled. Most of the bans have been challenged in court.

Defendants in the lawsuit include Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador, county prosecutors and members of the Idaho Code Commission. Labrador’s office will likely defend the law in court, but released a statement saying it would not comment on pending lawsuits.

Kansas

National Biodefence Laboratory Opens After Years of Controversy

Manhattan — After more than a decade of controversy and delays, the nation’s most secure biosecurity lab to study potentially fatal animal and plant diseases has opened in Manhattan, Kansas.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony took place on May 24, but it will be more than a year before researchers at the $1.25 billion National Biohazard and Agricultural Defense Facility start working on biohazards. said the officials.

In the meantime, staff will be performing compliance and regulatory tasks, preparing protocols and operating procedures, and undergoing training before working with pathogens, the Topeka Capital Journal reported.

Originally estimated to cost $451 million, in 2010 the National Research Council questioned placing the facility in the heart of a farming country with a history of large and devastating tornadoes. The price more than doubled after the release of a report showing

Homeland Security officials said the increase in costs was partly due to changes to the lab’s design to reduce the chances of releasing deadly pathogens.

The lab will replace a dilapidated facility on Plum Island, New York.

The facility in northeastern Kansas will be the nation’s only large animal biosafety level 4 laboratory, capable of working with pathogens for which there are currently no treatments or countermeasures.