The survival of eight endangered and threatened species, including four kinds of endemic fish, is in doubt in Arizona, as massive quantities of groundwater are extracted to construct Donald Trump’s border wall.
The 30ft-high barrier is under construction on the edge of the San Bernardino national wildlife refuge in south-eastern Arizona, where rare desert springs and crystalline streams provide the only US habitat for the endangered freshwater Río Yaqui fish.
The region’s water reserves are already depleted due to prolonged drought and record high temperatures linked to the climate crisis.
The expansion of water-intensive crops such as alfalfa and pecan farms is also draining aquifers in the arid region.
Now, experts fear that construction of this 20-mile stretch of Trump’s wall, which began in October,
Now, experts fear that construction of this 20-mile stretch of Trump’s wall, which began in October,
has reduced spring flow and groundwater levels in San Bernardino which provide scarce habitat for the Yaqui topminnow, chub, beautiful shiner and the most vulnerable, the Yaqui catfish.
“There’s good reason to believe that the Yaqui fish’s only US habitat is drying up as a result of tens or hundreds of thousands of gallons of groundwater being pumped to build the border wall,”
said Laiken Jordahl, a borderlands campaigner with the Center for Biological Diversity who recently visited the area.
Construction in Arizona and New Mexico is under way, despite multiple ongoing lawsuits challenging the constitutional basis of Trump’s executive orders which diverted billions of defense dollars to the wall by declaring a national emergency in February.
Despite the potential for far-reaching long-term consequences, details about the plans are sparse since the government suspended 28 federal laws mandating protections and oversight,
relating to clean air and water, endangered species, public lands and the rights of Native Americans, in order to expedite construction.
The waiver includes the 1969 National Environmental Policy Act (Nepa), considered the cornerstone of environmental protection in the US, the Endangered Species Act,
National Fish and Wildlife Act and Migratory Bird Conservation Act. These laws require robust scientific, environmental and costs analysis before projects can be sanctioned.
“Through environmental waivers and stolen funds, he’s building a wall that will deplete precious water resources, desecrate sacred sites and destroy the environmental treasures and biodiversity that make the borderlands unique.”
“The wall could not be built without the waiver. Nepa requires the government to choose the least invasive, best option for taxpayers … surveillance cameras could be installed every hundred metres at a fraction of the economic and environmental cost an unjustifiable project.”
In addition to the Yaqui fish, water depletion also threatens federally protected Chiricahua leopard frogs, Huachuca water umbel, Mexican garter snakes and Aplomado falcon, as well as the San Bernardino springsnails which are confined to a couple of fragile springs.
The impenetrable bollard wall also encroaches in2 a crucial migratory corridor where “Sombra”, one of just 3 known surviving jaguars in the region, most likely crossed into the US from Mexico. In Arizona, 13 state laws have been suspended in addition to the 28 federal statutes.
“Throwing billions of dollars into building a wall will not make our borders more secure, but will cause destructive flooding and irreparable damage to migration patterns for many wildlife species only found in the Sonoran desert.”
In total, 93 federally listed endangered and threatened species live close to the 2,000-mile southern border, which is NA’s most arid region. The native wildlife and fauna, as well as migratory birds and butterflies rely on the dwindling wetlands, streams and rivers for survival.
