More than 40 conservation groups gathered at the Arizona Capitol for Environmental Day on Tuesday.
Among the speakers were members of the Arizona Legislature.
The groups would like the Legislature to address issues such climate change, water and funding for parks.
But lawmakers say that bills that take up those issues sometimes don’t even make it out of committee in the legislature, where Republicans hold a narrow majority.
Stephanie Stahl Hamilton, a Democrat, said she would like to see more action on climate change, which is fueling the crisis on the Colorado River.
"The fact of the matter is that Arizona is ground zero for the climate crisis, and there’s nothing that illustrates this better than the rapidly declining water levels at Lake Mead and Lake Powell," she said.
She says the number of extreme heat days is likely to increase dramatically over the next few decades.
