Veterans Service Award nominations PAGE
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This Week
NEWS.................. 9
Registry helps pet owners cope with canine cancer
FEATURES......... 18
Valley Youth Theatre’s ‘Seussical’ features Anthem, Cave Creek kids
YOUTH.............. 20
Hoof Falls & Footfalls youth Horsemanship Club
OPINION.................... 12 BUSINESS.................. 15 FEATURES................. 16 YOUTH....................... 20 CLASSIFIEDS............. 22 Zone I
Valley housing market cools Anthem Area Edition
15
Wednesday, August 24, 2022
County officials speak on flooding, emergency alerts BY ALLISON BROWN Foothills Focus Staff Writer
T
he effects of monsoon season are being felt throughout the Valley, and representatives from the Maricopa Flood Control District and Department of Emergency Management spoke about what they are doing to help at an Aug. 12 town hall meeting. Maricopa Flood Control District “Our big mission is to reduce our risk from floods, very simply put,” said Mike Fulton, director of the Maricopa County Flood Control District.
see FLOODING page 4
Flooding in New River from a storm in July 2021. (Photo by Emilee Spear/Submitted)
Interstate water brawl leaves cities in the dark BY SCOTT SHUMAKER AND PAUL MARYNIAK Foothills Focus Staff Writers
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n the West, whiskey is for drinking; water is for fighting. Arizona residents felt the reality of that maxim on Aug. 15 as several Western states announced that two months of closed door negotiations to cut an emergency 12% to 25% from next year’s Colorado River withdrawals had yielded bupkus. The Bureau of Reclamation in June demanded the deep cuts to bolster the amount of water in Lakes Powell and Mead, which
have been dropping faster than predicted in recent years amid long-term drought and warming climate. About a third of Arizona’s annual water supplies come from those reservoirs. There was hope that the states, faced with the increasingly realistic threat of dead pool conditions on the Colorado and loss of hydropower production, would come together and deliver a deal. But those hopes were dashed early last week as states started to point fingers when the deadline passed. Arizona’s delegation of negotiators said in a statement that “Arizona and Nevada put
forward an aggressive proposal that would achieve 2 (million acre-feet) of reductions among the Lower Basin and Mexico in 2023 and beyond. That proposal was rejected.” The high-level fighting between states means that some cities and towns may be waiting several more months to find out exactly how much of its Colorado River water allocation is going to be tied up in conservation next year to shore up the reservoirs. Phoenix’s water portfolio currently consists of about 40% Colorado River water.
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see WATER page 6