Environmental groups sued the Trump administration in federal court on Tuesday, claiming its approval of a project that aims to pump billions of gallons from desert aquifers in California’s Mojave Desert to supply thirsty coastal cities is illegal.
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The Trump administration has given the go-ahead for a project to siphon millions of gallons of water from an underground aquifer in the Mojave Desert and sell it to Southern California water districts.
Read moreThe majestic saguaro cactus may be Arizona’s best-known desert plant, but at the Ironwood Forest National Monument, it is a gnarled, hardy tree that commands attention.
Read moreSouthern California is known for its diverse landscape, including the tallest mountain peaks in the state down to the desert, which has been teeming with life since experiencing a super bloom after an unusually wet winter. But when the area connecting the two different landscapes was left unprotected from development – particularly by the energy sector – despite having support from varied groups including environmentalists and off-road enthusiasts, it took an executive order by former President Barack Obama to do what locals say Congress failed to: create the Sand to Snow National Monument.
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A “slow and steady” adaptation to evolving hazards will not save the Mojave Desert tortoise from extinction, and to save the endangered iconic species researchers have decoded the tortoise’s genome to identify specific genes that will guide conservation efforts and improve its likelihood of survival.
Read morePresident Bill Clinton created the Sonoran Desert National Monument by executive order in 2001 to serve as an example of what the Sonoran Desert could look like if untouched by the fast-growing urban sprawl of Phoenix. Nearly two decades later, the monument’s creation has been called into question by the Trump administration.
Read moreWinter storms that drenched the Golden State have brought a blanket of wildflowers which cloaked the Anza-Borrego Desert in a “super bloom” not seen for decades.
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The arrival of spring nudges the desert tortoises at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum out of their hibernation burrows, and that means they are ready for a new home. Each year, the Desert Museum puts up for adoption as many as 90 rescue tortoises.
Read moreDust from the Gobi Desert in Asia is crucial to the survival of the giant sequoias in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains, half a world away.
Read moreThe males of two newly identified species of bees closely resemble ants, and the researchers that discovered them aren’t sure why.
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