Conservation

Arizona, California and Nevada have agreed to take less water from the drought-strained Colorado River, a breakthrough agreement that, for now, keeps the river from falling so low that it would jeopardize water supplies for major Western cities like Phoenix and Los Angeles as well as for some of America’s most productive farmland.

Seven U.S. states that depend on the overused Colorado River on Monday reached agreement to cut consumption from a river that provides drinking water for 40 million people and irrigation for some of the country's most bountiful farmland.

In the agreement with the Biden administration, announced by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Arizona, California and Nevada will take 3 million acre-feet (3.7 billion cubic meters) less from the river through the end of 2026, an amount equal to 13% their allotment.

The Biden administration reached consensus Monday on a historic Colorado River Basin conservation deal after securing agreement from California, Arizona, and Nevada.

The agreement with the three states, which together make up the river's Lower Basin, is slated to last through the end of 2026, the Interior Department said in a statement on Monday. It will also conserve at least 3 million acre-feet of water.

A coalition of more than 80 environmental organizations representing millions of Americans has sent a letter urging members of Congress to vote against the so-called "Save Our Sequoias Act"—legislation the groups warn would do the very opposite of what its name suggests.

While working to restore wildlife and plant habitats, a federally chartered conservation foundation pays lavish salaries to officers at the expense of environmental initiatives that are central to its mission, policy analysts and former employees say. 

Compensation figures in Form 990 tax records prepared for the IRS ought to raise questions about the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s internal financial practices and the potential impact on conservation programs, a former employee told The Daily Signal in a phone interview.

AS WILDFIRES DESTROY millions of acres in California, Oregon, and Washington, and an unprecedented series of hurricanes cause historic flooding in the South, leaving parts of the region uninhabitable, the Trump administration has been racing to reverse rules designed to prevent exactly these kinds of climate disasters.

Wilderness across the planet is disappearing on a huge scale, according to a new study that found human activities had converted an area the size of Mexico from virtually intact natural landscapes to heavily modified ones in just 13 years.

The loss of 1.9m square kilometres (735,000 sq miles) of intact ecosystems would have “profound implications” for the planet’s biodiversity, the study’s authors said.

Using mostly satellite imagery, 17 scientists across six countries examined the human footprint across the globe and how it had changed between 2000 and 2013.