Articles by Mark Olalde, ProPublica
Mark Olalde is a reporter at ProPublica covering the environment in the Southwest.
All Articles
-
![An aerial shot of a river cutting through red rocks under a cloudy sky.]()
![An aerial shot of a river cutting through red rocks under a cloudy sky.]()
Western states opposed tribes’ access to the Colorado River 70 years ago. History is repeating itself.
Records unearthed by a University of Virginia professor shed new light on states’ vocal opposition in the 1950s to tribes claiming their share of the river. Today, many are still fighting to secure water.
-
![In the desert, a man in a baseball cap and jeans fills up water from a pump that says]()
![In the desert, a man in a baseball cap and jeans fills up water from a pump that says]()
How Arizona stands between tribes and their water
As it negotiates water rights with tribes, Arizona goes to unique lengths to extract concessions that limit tribes’ opportunities for growth and economic development, according to a ProPublica and High Country News investigation.
-
It will cost up to $21.5 billion to clean up California’s oil sites. The industry won’t make enough money to pay for it.
An expert used California regulators’ methodology to estimate the cost of cleaning up the state’s onshore oil and gas industry. The study found that cleanup costs will be triple the industry’s projected profits.
