Category: State News

(AP) — The seven U.S. states that draw water from the Colorado River basin are suggesting new ways to determine how the increasingly scarce resource is divvied up when the river can’t provide what it historically promised. The Upper Basin and the Lower Basin states, as neighbors, don’t agree on the approach. Under a proposal released Wednesday by Arizona, California and Nevada, the water level at Lake Mead — one of the two largest of the Colorado River reservoirs — no longer would determine the extent of water cuts like it currently does. The three Lower Basin states also want what they say…

Arizona hunters still have an opportunity to receive a hunt permit-tag for select 2024 elk hunts.  The Arizona Game and Fish Department has posted a list of leftover hunt permit-tags, as well as a printable paper application, on its website. Leftover hunt permit-tags include: 70 — limited opportunity (general) antlerless elk.   3 — archery-only antlerless elk.   3 — archery-only bull elk. The department will begin accepting paper applications for leftover hunt permit-tags on a first-come, first-served basis — by mail only — beginning Monday, March 18. All completed paper applications must be addressed to: Arizona Game and Fish Department, Attn.: Draw/First Come, 5000 W. Carefree Highway,…

PHOENIX — The wild population of Mexican wolves saw another year of growth in 2023, according to the results of the annual survey. The 2023 population census revealed a minimum of 257 Mexican wolves distributed across Arizona and New Mexico. This increase marks the eighth consecutive year of population growth, the longest continuous streak since recovery efforts began. The 2023 population minimum count represents a six percent increase from the minimum of 242 wolves counted in 2022. Survey results show the population is distributed with a minimum of 144 wolves in New Mexico and 113 in Arizona. “In the aggregate, the…

The Biden-Harris administration has announced a significant milestone in its efforts to protect the stability and sustainability of the Colorado River System and strengthen water security in the West.  With historic water conservation enabled by President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, the Administration has staved off the immediate possibility of the Colorado River System’s reservoirs from falling to critically low elevations that would threaten water deliveries and power production. Due to record conservation investments as well as improved hydrology, Lake Mead levels today, at elevation 1075 feet, are the highest since May 2021, when they were at 1073 feet. The Department of…

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — A Native American tribe with one of the largest outstanding claims to water in the Colorado River basin is closing in on a settlement with more than a dozen parties, putting it on a path to piping water to tens of thousands of tribal members in Arizona who still live without it. Negotiating terms outlined late Wednesday include water rights not only for the Navajo Nation but the neighboring Hopi and San Juan Southern Paiute tribes in the northeastern corner of the state. The water would come from a mix of sources: the Colorado River that…

Platform offers eligible taxpayers a new option to file electronically for free Phoenix – The Arizona Department of Revenue (ADOR) is announcing that the much-anticipated Direct File tool — and Arizona’s integrated state filing tool, FileYourStateTaxes — will be officially available for all eligible taxpayers to file their tax returns electronically for free starting March 12. This historic new program will allow eligible taxpayers to file their federal and state returns seamlessly and for free. Starting this week, the platform is in its final testing phase, allowing new users to file their returns 24 hours a day, every day. A message…