Arizona

A recent $1B pledge from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could help chip away at a backlog dating to 1993. But Kennedy says it will take much more — $8B — to replace the seven clinics and hospitals still on the list.

It's known by the name Velvet-Wood, and the project's Canadian owner got the go-ahead back in May as the first to undergo an "accelerated," two-week environmental review, during which tribes had only seven days to reply.

The Colorado River Basin appears to be gearing up for a legal fight. And the federal government is weighing its options for making the states share the shrinking river.

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo released a joint statement Saturday calling on Utah, Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico to offer more concessions.

Negotiators are focusing on a five-year agreement for sharing water from the shrinking river. Experts say that would provide some much-needed flexibility.

State negotiators entered the meeting at a years-long impasse over how water restrictions should be managed during dry years. They now have less than two weeks until a federal Feb. 14 deadline.

The two neighboring towns on the Arizona-Utah border that once served as a haven for a polygamous religious sect have entered a new era now that they've been released from court supervision nearly two years earlier than expected.

Dozens of the 575 federally recognized Native American tribes are making it easier to get tribal IDs by waiving fees, lowering the age of eligibility and printing cards on the spot. As Native Americans rush to secure the documents, many see a bitter irony in the first people of the land having to prove that they too are U.S. citizens.

Water leaders in the U.S. West gathered this week in Las Vegas with a hefty task hanging over their heads — figuring out a long-term plan for sharing water from the Colorado River.

Utah and the 6 states that share the river missed a federal Nov. 11 deadline to make progress on a new water agreement. Gov. Katie Hobbs said she has a hard time believing the Upper Basin states can't reduce water use.

A group of nonprofits is calling for reductions to water demand, changes at Glen Canyon Dam and more transparent negotiations.

Two years ahead of what could be a final round of applications, allegations of predatory representation and solicitation are on the rise, and especially targeting tribal communities. The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act was reauthorized over the summer.