Weekly Rewind: Beached whale, saving Colorado River, end of unemployment benefits
International meets regional this week
Statewide, we saw two very big changes this week: The banning of trail cameras which aid in hunting, and ending of $300 weekly unemployment benefits.
The Game and Fish Commission voted to approve the ban on June 11, which can start as early as next January. Regulators say animals should have a chance to get away, and hunters should rely on their skills and not technology.
The Arizona Center for Economic Progress (AZ Center) says $300-a-week benefits will slow Arizona's economic recovery. Research such as this has led lawmakers to cut the funds.
More than 143,000 workers in Arizona will lose income due to Arizona Governor Doug Ducey's decision to take the weekly benefits from unemployed Arizonans on Saturday, July 10. AZ Center says more than 242,000 workers as a whole remain unemployed.
Dividing state lines between California and Arizona, the Colorado River is a main water source for many Americans. However, our neighbors to the south in Mexico and hundreds of native species within the region also greatly depend on this water.
The Colorado River used to flow all the way through the Sea of Cortez, but with declining water levels, less rainfall and lack of water conservation, the bodies of water in between no longer connect.
Protecting the Colorado River Delta is a domino effect that has a lasting impact on our local environment. Some fear it won't be long before state lines are all that's left from the Colorado River's path.
In 1944, the U.S. and Mexico signed a binational agreement, assigning water only to cities and agriculture, leaving nothing for the environment. The goal of Revive El Rio is to connect the Colorado River to the sea in Mexico to restore ecosystems and bring in more life.
The water in this area of Laguna Grande is less than 1% of what it used to be almost 100 years ago because of this treaty.
Speaking of our southern neighbors, residents of Puerto Peñasco, Mexico found a whale washed up on the Rocky Point shore Wednesday morning. Locals organized with Federal Maritime Terrestrial Zone officials and the Secretary of the Navy to save the whale from the sun, keeping it alive.
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), over 33.6 million coronavirus-related cases have been tracked within the U.S.
That being said, California accounts for about 11.3% of national cases; while Arizona equates to 2.6%.
In regard to nationwide vaccinations, the CDC reports over 387 million have been delivered. Arizona only makes up 1.7% of the nation's total vaccine administrations, with California representing nearly 11%.
