Contractors building border wall ordered to stop drilling wells in drought-stricken New Mexico
PHOENIX — The Trump administration has ordered construction crews on a border wall to stop drilling wells in drought-stricken New Mexico after ranchers said pumping groundwater needed to make concrete could threaten their livestock.The order comes as crews across the southern border race to complete one of President Donald Trump’s highest domestic priorities — barriers that span four states and received over $46 billion in federal funding.Controversies have sprouted up in Texas and California, with border-town residents and environmentalists reporting a wide variety of issues with construction.US Customs and Border Protection, which oversees border wall construction, has said water is needed to make concrete for roads, wall construction and dust suppression.
Cattle ranchers in the area say the drought has already forced them to reduce their herd size.“It would put us in an immediate catastrophe and having to do something with our livestock.I mean, it could potentially put some people out of business, us included,” said Russell Johnson, a cattle rancher whose property runs along the border.Johnson raised the issue at a public meeting in July after noticing an industrial well, which drilling crews told him would pump 300 gallons a minute, on land he leases for grazing.
Johnson has roughly 12 wells across his ranch, which pump between three and seven gallons a minute.A spokesperson for CBP said on Monday that border wall contractors in New Mexico have been instructed to stop drilling new wells, but did not comment on whether the wells already drilled could be pumped.The agency said they would collaborate with New Mexico and the US Department of Agriculture to develop a groundwater strategy.“CBP is committed to working collaboratively with local landowners to ensure that construction activities do not adversely impact their water needs,” read the statement.The federal contractors building the wall in New Mexico — Caddell Construction Co.
and Fishe...