Lake Mead, the largest reservoir on the Colorado River and in the country, has fallen to its lowest level since it was first filled in the 1930s. KNAU’s
3:40
One of the conclusions of the report is that race is the most significant predicator of whether people had access to plumbing. Can you talk about that?
There are actually a few different articles that focus on what they’ll call ‘plumbing poverty.’…. I think that’s something a lot of people wouldn’t realize is true, you might think it’s more related to the rural nature of where someone resides, but these studies accounted for that and in the end, it’s race, and in particular Native Americans are the most impacted, the most likely to lack plumbing in their homes…. The pandemic has highlighted a lot of inequities in our country and bringing attention to them, and these are conditions that don’t exist in more affluent white communities. They just don’t.
3:46
So let’s do some history first. When did hydrologists first start warning people that the Colorado River didn’t have as much water as they wanted it to have?
This goes all the way back to the early 20th century when we were first planning dams and canals for the farms and the cities, and there were hydrologists who warned that the Colorado River was subject to some really deep droughts that could last a long time. The work was generally ignored in favor of more optimistic estimates that allowed us to build bigger dams and bigger cities and larger farming communities. The science was inconvenient, so it was shoved aside, as we have often seen happen with the history of water in the Western United States.
A new study from Northern Arizona University looks at the long-term effects of restoring a forest with mechanical thinning and prescribed burns. The news
It s Wednesday, May 26. If you missed this morning s lunar eclipse, check out this report from KNAU s Melissa Sevigny or these photos taken across the country.
Meanwhile, our top headlines of the morning:
Coconino County, Flagstaff Lift Mask Guidance As Vaccinations Climb
The Coconino County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday lifted a face covering proclamation that was in effect for nearly a year. The new protocol effective June 1 comes after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced new guidelines allowing vaccinated individuals to forgo a mask in many indoor spaces. An estimated 48.6% of the county has been vaccinated; the county continues to recommend masks for those who have not received the vaccine.