Teacher raise disappoints / P. 2
Garbage fire alarm / P. 7
INSIDE
This Week
NEWS....................... 1 4 Freeway interchange chases tiny owls out of town.
Sunday, May 15, 2022
FREE ($1 OUTSIDE THE EAST VALLEY) | TheMesaTribune.com
An edition of the East Valley Tribune
Plummeting lake levels threaten Mesa’s water supply BY SCOTT SHUMAKER Tribune Staff Writing
A
rizona and other Western states that take water from the lower Colorado River for cities and farms were hoping for a good season of rain and snow this winter to keep water levels in the river’s reservoirs above dangerously low levels. Instead, they got another bad year. The dry year, on top of 22 years of regional
drought, has shortened the time that states and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation have to avert a series of dangerous scenarios that could unfold in the next two years without action. About 36% of Arizona’s water – and 55% of Mesa’s water – comes from the Colorado River. Lake Mead and Lake Powell store water that goes to population centers, and they have less water now than they’ve ever had. The upshot of the disappointing winter is that water officials are accepting a future
where less Colorado River water is available– so they are redoubling efforts to make alternate plans. But at the same time that they are doing long-term planning, water officials are also engaged in a short-term rescue mission to keep the Colorado River flowing and the reservoir system intact. A U.S. Bureau of Reclamation 24-month
see WATER page 12
Eastmark to graduate its first senior class
SPORTS................ 2 5 Mesa boxer hopes to remain undefeated.
GET OUT............... 2 7 Blue Man in MAC's mega season lineup. COMMUNITY................................. 16 BUSINESS....................................... 20 OPINION......................................... 23 SPORTS........................................... 25 GET OUT......................................... 27 CLASSIFIED.................................... 31 Zone 1
BY ZACH ALVIRA Tribune Sports Editor
J
ust over two years ago, Adelin Longhurst was enjoying her high school in her home state of Kentucky. At the time, she had no idea she would soon make an impact on a much smaller Queen Creek Unified high school in East Mesa. But when her family made the move to Arizona, she found Eastmark High School. She enjoyed the small student population that the school still has in just its third year of existence. Adelin wanted to become involved. She wanted to build traditions and create longlasting memories that not only she and the rest of the student council team would always remember, but the rest of the student population as well. Now, as senior class president, she and her fellow student council representatives said goodbye to Eastmark’s first-ever grad-
see EASTMARK page 6
Eastmark Student Council members, from left, Becca Hinton, Sydni Lawson, Grace Foote, Mylie Stones, Esther Robinson, Amelia Barton and Adelin Longhurst have helped establish traditions that they hope will live on well beyond graduation on Wednesday, May 18, when they become the school’s first graduating class. (Dave Minton/Tribune Staff Photographer)
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