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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Group Ranks Arizona as Country's Top "Water Hog"

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Monday, December 14, 2015   

TUCSON, Az. - A campaign to encourage people to conserve water on behalf of wildlife has identified Arizona as one of the top "water wasters" in the country. The Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity is sponsoring the "Don't be a Drip" campaign to make consumers aware that using too much water can deprive an endangered species of a critical habitat.

Stephanie Feldstein, director of the center's Population and Sustainability program, says it's a major problem.

"Water over-consumption doesn't just affect a drought in terms of its impact on human communities, but also what it means for wildlife in the area," says Feldstein. "And so many species, so many endangered species in particular, are in these same areas trying to share those same sources of water."

Feldstein says each person in Maricopa County uses more than 161 gallons per day, the highest rate of any metro area in the country. Across the rest of Arizona, the usage is even higher. The campaign uses a cartoon "water hog" to point out areas where water use is not only too high, but where it's high enough to deplete the habitat of endangered species.

She adds in Arizona, 70 percent of water use is for lawns, swimming pools and washing cars, none of which makes sense in a desert climate. And Arizona isn't the only state with these concerns.

"But particularly in states in the West, like in Arizona and in California where there's been so much news about the drought, people are surprised to learn that there's still so much excessive water consumption happening," says Feldstein.

She points out that in Arizona, the overuse of water threatens such species as nesting bald eagles, the southwestern willow flycatcher, and cutthroat trout.

Information about the campaign is online at dontbeadrip.org.


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