Episodes

  • Broken Promises, Contaminated Waters: Uranium mining on the Navajo Nation

    Broken Promises, Contaminated Waters: Uranium mining on the Navajo Nation
    Oct 9 2024
    An investigation reveals the deadly health toll of uranium mining on Navajo land, where contaminated water and broken promises have left generations fighting for survival.
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    31 mins
  • Uranium Mining in the Grand Canyon Region: Tribal sovereignty vs. nuclear energy in the climate crisis

    Uranium Mining in the Grand Canyon Region: Tribal sovereignty vs. nuclear energy in the climate crisis
    Oct 2 2024
    The costs of uranium mining and nuclear energy on Arizona's tribal nations are often hidden from the broader public. These communities are facing serious threats as their land and water resources become potential casualties in the pursuit of energy. We dive deep into the environmental, cultural, and historical impacts tied to the region's most precious resource—water. Through expert interviews and firsthand accounts, we uncover how this issue challenges the survival of ecosystems, sacred sites, and the health of Indigenous communities, raising urgent questions about the future of water in the Southwest.
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    26 mins
  • Nogales: Reviving arroyos and cultivating water resiliency

    Nogales: Reviving arroyos and cultivating water resiliency
    Sep 26 2024
    Scarcity, pollution, flooding, and unchecked urbanization have created water issues in Nogales, Sonora. The city and researchers on both sides of the border are working on innovative ways to remedy.
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    24 mins
  • "This aquifer is our Colorado River": Rural residents struggle when corporate farms drill deep for water

    "This aquifer is our Colorado River": Rural residents struggle when corporate farms drill deep for water
    Sep 20 2024
    From Governor Katie Hobbs to Attorney General Kris Mayes, Arizona officials grapple with saving rural water supplies.
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    25 mins
  • Never closer and never farther away: The fight over updating Arizona's rural groundwater law

    Never closer and never farther away: The fight over updating Arizona's rural groundwater law
    Sep 16 2024
    Arizona has no regulations on pumping groundwater in rural areas. The state's governor is trying to modernize its water laws, and the fight over rural groundwater is in the middle of it. So how did the re-introduction of a water policy council that aimed to solve the problem lead to a pair of bills and division amongst its original members?
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    24 mins
  • Hedge funds and foreign farms get water, rural Arizonans get empty wells

    Hedge funds and foreign farms get water, rural Arizonans get empty wells
    Sep 4 2024
    Saudi involvement in western Arizona's rural La Paz County is already well known. But they are not the only non-local interest in the area making use of water. Hedge funds, foreign countries, and green energy interests want to turn rural groundwater into dollars, and they have a lot of ideas how to do it.
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    22 mins
  • From Date Palms to Alfalfa: How Arizona became fertile ground for Saudi farms

    From Date Palms to Alfalfa: How Arizona became fertile ground for Saudi farms
    Aug 28 2024
    The history of Arizona's relationship with Saudi Arabia and the Arabian peninsula starts with a pre-Civil-War military program involving camels run by Jefferson Davis. It went on to involve the state's first college professor, an attempt to launch a new cash crop that became a common tree in the state, and much more. All of that lead to the most recent chapter, when monarchs began seeing Arizona as a place to grow thirsty crops like alfalfa as they exploited weak water laws in the state's rural places.
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    25 mins
  • Two Rivers, One Lifeline: Reclaiming the Santa Cruz across borders

    Two Rivers, One Lifeline: Reclaiming the Santa Cruz across borders
    Aug 14 2024
    US-Mexico collaboration has improved the once polluted and depleted Santa Cruz River. Challenges like flooding and wastewater management persist, requiring new infrastructure and funding. Despite progress, managing water across borders remains ongoing.
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    20 mins