Arizona

Recently Arizona Water News asked Arizona State Climatologist Erinanne Saffell, as well as Mark O’Malley, lead forecaster for the National Weather Service, to provide some expert analysis of the spate of early-to-mid-winter storms that have made for a surprisingly wet winter in the West thus far.

As water news goes, all 2022 water-related stories bend the knee before those about the Colorado River and

The State panel charged with making recommendations to Arizona’s Governor about drought status met early in May and concluded – to absolutely no one’s surprise – that Arizona remains locked in the chronic drought conditions that have plagued the Southwest for more than two decades.

How long has Arizona been in drought?

As Arizonans know, all those stories we tell the relatives and tourists about it being a dry heat is part truth, part myth.

Yes, the summer scorch annually enveloping us this time of year is typically dry. But not always.

The sweltering monsoon season – the time of year that gives lie to those claims about the allegedly tolerable summer temps in our desert regions -- is upon us.

And with it comes the rain – those often-sensational, often-intense, occasionally dangerous summer storms.

Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake toured the Colorado River system’s drought-threatened Lake Mead area on August 31, meeting with federal and state water officials, including the Arizona Department of Water Resources.

“I was pleased to discuss with Sen. Flake the proactive response by Arizona to challenges associated with the Colorado River system,” said Water Resources Assistant Director Clint Chandler.

“Our conversation (at Hoover Dam) included references to our State’s contributions, and those of other states and Mexico, to the system."