The latest forecasts for water in the Colorado River show a grim picture. Turning Point USA’s political arm spent months pouring money and resources into a little-known utility election in Arizona. This week, Tucson leaders heard the results of a monthslong study of what residents want to see out of a proposed city amendment to regulate data centers. Plus, the latest metro Phoenix and business news.
Transcript
TIARA VIAN: This is KJZZ, your news and information station in Phoenix and across Arizona. I'm Tiara Vian. Here are this week's stories you don't want to miss.
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TIARA VIAN: And this is the podcast that's designed to catch you up on some highlights from around the region. So thanks for listening. Here are a few of the stories for the week of April 6, 2026. Arizona's outdoor workers face some of the hottest conditions in the country. And these workers are heading into another summer without any specific state regulations requiring their employers to provide them with water, shade or breaks from the heat. In the first of a three-part series on workplace heat safety this week, Katherine Davis-Young explains what some workers want to see changed.
KATHERINE DAVIS-YOUNG: Jesus Reyes has been a day laborer in Tucson for about 30 years. He mostly does landscaping work, so he's spent a lot of time under the scorching Arizona sun. But one afternoon in June 2021, the heat really caught up with him.
JESUS REYES: It started with a severe headache, a lot of vomiting, and a lot of dizziness.
KATHERINE DAVIS-YOUNG: He'd been working all day in triple-digit temperatures without much access to water or shade. By the time he got home, he knew it was an emergency. His wife took him to the hospital. By the time they got there, he'd lost consciousness.
JESUS REYES: The doctor told me that I had arrived just in time.
KATHERINE DAVIS-YOUNG: It was heatstroke, a life-threatening condition that affects the heart, brain and other vital organs. Reyes needed two surgeries to save his life.
JESUS REYES: It wasn't an easy thing.
KATHERINE DAVIS-YOUNG: Five years later, he still doesn't feel like he's fully recovered.
JESUS REYES: I don't want to push my body too much because I'm afraid—afraid that the same thing might happen to me again because it was a truly terrible experience.
KATHERINE DAVIS-YOUNG: OSHA estimates tens of thousands of workers like Reyes suffer illnesses or injuries related to heat exposure on the job nationwide each year, and estimates hundreds die. It's unclear exactly how many Arizona workers have died from working in the heat, but KJZZ found dozens of examples of fatalities going back decades. Just last summer, a Phoenix-area postal worker died delivering mail on a 106-degree day. A young construction worker died from heat on a job site in Glendale, and an air conditioning technician died in a hot attic near Prescott. And these cases appear to be on the rise.
EMMA TORRES: We see more people, you know, reporting those issues.
KATHERINE DAVIS-YOUNG: Emma Torres is executive director of Campesinos Sin Fronteras, a Yuma-based organization that advocates for farmworkers.
EMMA TORRES: For years and years, people had been exposed to heat and they had found ways to, you know, protect themselves. Wearing a big hat or, you know, drinking water all the time. But what they're reporting is that more and more it’s worse.
KATHERINE DAVIS-YOUNG: Arizona has never had state regulations specifically to protect workers from heat. And as climate change drives more intense heatwaves, outdoor worker deaths in Arizona are increasing at a faster rate than in neighboring California, where state regulations for workplace heat safety have been in place since 2005. That's according to a recent study in the journal Health Affairs. Adam Dean is one of the study's authors.
ADAM DEAN: Heat standards can significantly reduce worker deaths if they're well-crafted and well-enforced.
KATHERINE DAVIS-YOUNG: Enforcement, Adam Dean says, is key. Right now, Arizona's Division of Occupational Safety and Health does have a heat emphasis program. ADOSH inspectors look out for heat hazards and provide some training to employers. But labor groups in Arizona have been calling for the state to establish a formal standard under which employers could be cited or fined if they're not providing water, shade or other specific protections for their workers. They say workers in some of the hottest roles—day laborers, farmworkers—have very little job security. Many are immigrants; some may be working without legal status. Emma Torres says if conditions are unsafe, they're highly motivated not to complain.
EMMA TORRES: The most important is that they come here to work. They don't want to cause any problems, any issues. So more likely they will just not say anything.
KATHERINE DAVIS-YOUNG: Day laborers like Jesus Reyes might work for a different boss every day. He says those bosses have all the power.
JESUS REYES: We're day laborers. We work eight hours, and most of our bosses drive us like they’re cracking the whip over us.
KATHERINE DAVIS-YOUNG: Labor groups say when workers feel intimidated to speak up about hazards, it should be up to the state to enforce safety. Governor Katie Hobbs last year convened a task force to make recommendations to ADOSH around workplace heat rules. Reyes and a few other day laborers testified before an ADOSH advisory committee recently to say they want regulation.
JESUS REYES: Good afternoon, my name is Jesus Reyes.
KATHERINE DAVIS-YOUNG: But so far the task force recommendations have fallen short of what labor groups were hoping for. The Industrial Commission of Arizona is expected to begin discussing the recommendations this week, but it appears unlikely they'll establish any new heat rules before summer arrives. For now, Reyes continues working outdoors but faces a disheartening dilemma.
JESUS REYES: We have to work to survive.
KATHERINE DAVIS-YOUNG: But in Arizona's heat, he worries whether he'll survive his work. Katherine Davis-Young, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
TIARA VIAN: This story was produced with support from the Health and Climate Change Reporting Fellowship from USC. Find the entire series at KJZZ.org. In politics news, Turning Point USA's political arm spent months pouring money and resources into a little-known utility election in Arizona. The effort contributed to a massive increase in voter turnout, but ultimately failed to stave off a challenge from a slate of clean energy candidates. From the politics desk, Wayne Schutsky reports.
WAYNE SCHUTSKY: There were 36,000 ballots cast in the board election for Salt River Project's power utility election alone, up from an average of 7,500 votes over the past two elections. Unofficial results show Turning Point candidates Chris Dobson and Barry Paceley will be the next board president and vice president. But the clean energy slate won five seats on the board for SRP's power utility, giving them an eight-to-six majority. Board member Sandra Kennedy says they will use that power to push SRP management to adopt more solar and battery storage, rather than investing in more natural gas.
SANDRA KENNEDY: I can say that the board members have just kind of been followers of management. So whatever management wanted, they got. I think it's a new day.
WAYNE SCHUTSKY: Sandra Kennedy lost to Chris Dobson in the board president race, but still holds a seat on the board. Turning Point characterized that as a major victory. Wayne Schutsky , KJZZ News, Phoenix.
TIARA VIAN: And this is the Stories You Don't Want to Miss podcast. Thanks for listening.
UNNAMED HOST: Rio Salado College is hosting a community conversation on the future of affordable housing. Join industry leaders, innovators and local voices to explore new ideas shaping housing in our region. The event is Thursday, April 30. Learn more at riosalado.edu/future housing.
TIARA VIAN: In business news, Phoenix's iconic Mystery Castle has a new owner. Katherine Davis-Young has more on what's in store for the once-threatened landmark.
KATHERINE DAVIS-YOUNG: The 1930s stone castle near South Mountain Park has been closed to the public since 2022 and had been set for demolition. But the Arizona Preservation Foundation now reports the property has been sold. The Harold family of companies, which bought the site, has been involved in other historical preservation projects throughout Arizona. The new owner plans to preserve the Mystery Castle and turn it into a destination event venue, according to the Preservation Foundation. A community forum to discuss the castle's future is set for May 2. Katherine Davis-Young, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
TIARA VIAN: In tribal natural resources, Tuesday marks the deadline to comment on a Trump administration proposal that could roll back a two-decade ban on oil and gas drilling around a UNESCO World Heritage site. Gabriel Pietrorazio has more on potential changes for public lands surrounding Chaco Canyon.
GABRIEL PIETRORAZIO: The Bureau of Land Management wants to repeal a Biden-era 10-mile buffer zone of more than 336,000 acres rich in oil and gas. Some 40,000 wells already dot the greater Chaco landscape.
MARISSA NARANJO: What we are fighting for is the last right now unleased federal lands.
GABRIEL PIETRORAZIO: Marissa Naranjo is from the Santa Clara Pueblo. She's with the New Mexico nonprofit Sovereign Energy.
MARISSA NARANJO: Even when tribes lead, engage and help shape the process over many years, you know, at this point there's no guarantee that those outcomes will be respected as we're seeing by the seven-day public comment.
GABRIEL PIETRORAZIO: The mineral leasing withdrawal in 2023 followed a 150-day comment period. Gabriel Pietrorazio , KJZZ News, Phoenix.
TIARA VIAN: In water news, the latest forecasts for water in the Colorado River show a grim picture. As Alex Hager reports, low snowpack across the Rocky Mountains will lead to a tense summer for water managers in Arizona.
ALEX HAGER: Incredibly low. Seriously dry. Depressing. Those are just some of the words tossed around by scientists in the latest briefing on drought conditions. Nels Bjarkie is a scientist with the Western Water Assessment. He says hot and dry conditions stacked up all winter.
NELS BJARKIE: There is possibility that we could experience the driest or historical low flows on record. The notion that a wet kind of April, May, June might save us is quickly leaving the building.
ALEX HAGER: That shortage could send major reservoirs like Lake Powell plummeting to record lows, adding pressure to already tense negotiations about how to share water. If state leaders can't agree, the federal government could force major cutbacks on the supply that flows to Arizona. Alex Hager, KJZZ News, Phoenix.
TIARA VIAN: In Fronteras news, this week Tucson leaders heard the results of a months-long study of what residents want to see out of a proposed city amendment to regulate data centers. From the Fronteras desk in Tucson, Alisa Reznick has more.
ALISA RESNICK: Last year, Mayor Regina Romero and the City Council set out to draft formal limits on how data centers can function within the city. That after water needs for a data center proposal called Project Blue generated intense public backlash. City leaders were briefed on the findings of a series of public meetings about the amendment this week. Vice Mayor Lane Santa Cruz asked how feasible it would be to ban data centers outright.
LANE SANTA CRUZ: It’s going to be a major strain on our water and energy infrastructure, and in the desert city, that's just a tradeoff, especially in this time, that we can't afford.
ALISA RESNICK: City leaders said a moratorium on data centers would have to be legally defensible and would likely be limited to 120 days. After that, property owners could file suit. Alisa Reznick, KJZZ News, Tucson.
TIARA VIAN: And finally, from KJZZ's The Show, a conversation about Southern Arizona's Sky Islands and habitat danger for migrating birds. Here's co-host Lauren Gilger.
LAUREN GILGER: If you've ever traveled to the far southern reaches of our fair state near Patagonia on the Mexico border, you know you'll find a region that looks different than the dry, rocky, saguaro-laden desert we live in here in the valley. There are grassy fields, tree-covered mountains, desert scrub, riparian preserves. In fact, it's one of the top biodiversity hotspots in the world, especially for birders.
AARON MOROTECK: On our preserve, on the Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve, we have over 270 different bird species that have been documented here.
LAUREN GILGER: Wow.
AARON MOROTECK: And part of the reason for that is we sit right in the middle of a number of flyways for migrating birds.
LAUREN GILGER: That's Aaron Mrotek Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve manager for The Nature Conservancy. He told me the region turns out to be pretty perfect for birds on their migrations north for the summer or south for the winter. Think of it as a sort of rest stop for them along the way. But those all-important rest stops are in danger now as climate change threatens these delicate ecosystems. I spoke with Moroteck more about it, beginning with why this region is so perfect for migratory birds.
AARON MROTEK: We sit in an area called the Madrean Sky Island ecosystem through here. So we're sitting like in this kind of Sonoran Desert eco-region, but within that eco-region we have all of these mountain ranges that pop up. And of course that's giving you different elevation gradients that give rise to different habitat types. So because of the very differentiated habitat types that we have through here, it allows for various bird species that rely on those very specific habitats to all find their individual ecological niches to be able to thrive and move through this area and continue on in their life cycles.
LAUREN GILGER: That's amazing. So this kind of idea of a stopover, like a rest stop for birds as they're migrating and the reasons they're drawn—these are really important for birds and for those migration patterns, right? Like if they don't have those rest stops, it can be a problem.
AARON MROTEK: Absolutely, that's spot on. You know, in particular in this area that we sit in, we're at about 4,000 feet of elevation here in Patagonia. And so we are right in the middle of that transition zone between kind of that lower Sonoran Desert eco-region, which is generally characterized by, you know, our iconic saguaro cacti, but then we're like up above us in these mountain ranges. We have Douglas fir forest, ponderosa pines, mixed oak woodland chaparral zone. But I think one of the really big distinguishing features about our area is that we have a perennial stream that runs right through the middle of it, and that's Sonoita Creek. So Sonoita Creek runs approximately 12 miles and there's surface water throughout that entire 12 miles there. And you know, in the desert, water is life. It's not just life for people, it's also life for birds and mammals and reptiles. And so really that surface water availability really creates a profoundly important habitat through here for those animals that are migrating to be able to access that water for their stopovers.
LAUREN GILGER: OK, so tell us some of the species that come through. I know you're not like an extreme birder here, but that you enjoy or that folks are really there for, or that there are really outstanding highlights that people come to see every year?
AARON MROTEK: Yeah, while I'm not an extreme birder, I do associate and I'm around extreme birders all of the time, so I can fortunately name a couple for you here. Okay. There's a number of different warbler species that are really iconic in this area for migrating species coming through here. For instance, Lucy's warblers. Those just showed up here on the preserve and they really tend to enjoy our mesquite bosque habitat type through this preserve through here. But one of my favorite birds that migrates here every summer is the gray hawk.
LAUREN GILGER: Whoa.
AARON MROTEK: Yeah, gray hawks have very specific habitat requirements. They really like riparian zones with field habitats adjacent to those riparian zones. And that really characterizes the Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve, which I'm sitting at here right now. We have that riparian ecosystem moving through here with these big grassland fields that surround it. So it's really the perfect habitat type for these gray hawks. And gray hawks, you know, they're more commonly found through much of Sonora, Mexico, and down south of that as well, but their northernmost range is right around here in Southern Arizona. And so as a migrating species, to be able to see that species that you would most commonly see in Mexico coming up into the United States, I think that really makes it super, super unique. And people again travel from all over the world to come to this area of the world to be able to view that gray hawk, to enjoy it in its natural habitat.
LAUREN GILGER: Yeah, that's amazing. Gray hawk. So I mean, these kind of rest stops, these stopovers for these migratory birds though, are becoming harder to find, it sounds like, especially when it comes to those incredibly specific ones they can be like for the gray hawk you mentioned. I mean, what happens when one of these rest stops disappears? Are we seeing this happen in Southern Arizona?
AARON MROTEK: Oh, absolutely. You know, in Southern Arizona, we're seeing a long-term trend of drier winters and reduced monsoonal precipitation. And we're also combining that with increased water consumption in the state of Arizona by a growing human population. And that's causing many of our once perennial streams to start to run dry, resulting in the loss of not only the valuable aquatic habitat but maybe more importantly for a lot of these migrating birds, the associated riparian habitat that would be found alongside of these stream ecosystems. And as I mentioned, water in the desert is life, but is also our greatest limiting resource. And climate models suggest that Arizona may continue to see reduced precipitation annually throughout our entire state. And so we're seeing that reduced precipitation, we're seeing warmer daytime and nighttime temperatures which are stressing these natural ecosystems and creating optimal conditions for things like wildfires or pest insects or diseases or invasive species to come into these areas that were once really, really important stopovers and still continue to be. But we're seeing those stresses start to result in ecosystem conversion, where vegetative communities are slowly being replaced by species that are suited to a warmer and drier climate. And ultimately, these conversions can result in habitat shifts leading to the replacement of entire wildlife communities, which is really concerning for the long-term sustainability of these migration stopovers throughout the entire state of Arizona.
LAUREN GILGER: Yeah. So let me ask you lastly ... the question I guess that drives this home for folks, because I know we talk a lot about water scarcity, we talk a lot about climate change and warming weather. And I think a lot of folks will say, you know, we can't worry about things like migratory birds when we have to worry about, you know, human beings having these kind of resources going forward. But there are, when it comes to these species, broader ecological questions at hand, it sounds like.
AARON MROTEK: Oh, absolutely. You know, I think I tend not to be focused on single species. I tend to think of our ecosystems as really, really complex processes. Really what we're starting to see is an upset in the balance of these really, really complex systems that we call ecosystems down here. And fortunately, there are a number of solutions. Okay. Some of those solutions might look like conserving a variety of habitats. We're looking at restoring and maintaining those diverse habitats to support broad species assemblages. And really what we also seek to do is implement long-term monitoring protocols for vulnerable species, in particular migrating vulnerable species and their associated habitats to inform adaptive management. So these are some of the things that we can think about doing to preserve these really, really important flyovers or stopovers for migrating species across our entire state of Arizona.
LAUREN GILGER: Okay, well, glad it's not hopeless, it sounds like. All right, we'll leave it there. That is Aaron Mortoteck, Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve manager for the Nature Conservancy, joining us to talk about stopovers for migrating birds. Aaron, thank you very much for coming on the show. I really appreciate you being here.
AARON MROTEK: Oh, you're very welcome. Thank you so much.
TIARA VIAN: And this has been the Stories You Don't Want to Miss podcast, made possible in part by the Katina Foundation and Basis Charter Schools, Palo Verde Generating Station, SRP and the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust. Thank you for listening and for your generous support. I'm Tiara Vian. This is KJZZ. Listen more, learn more online and on the KJZZ mobile app.
