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Border wall plans threaten Arizona desert spring, groups warn

natureJul 24, 202615120

Federal plans to build a second 30 foot steel bollard wall 90 to 150 feet north of the existing barrier threaten Quitobaquito Springs in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, an oasis the O’odham call A’al Vaipia. The spring feeds a pond that is the only wild habitat on Earth for Sonoyta pupfish and tiny springsnails and the only U.S. habitat for the Sonoyta mud turtle. Conservationists say heavy machinery for the new wall would likely destroy part of the pond; the pond’s southern edge lies 190 feet from the border and a nearby mesquite grove designated critical habitat for the mud turtle would likely be leveled. The Trump administration’s 2020 construction of a 30 foot wall in the area coincided with an all time low in spring flow and a partial drying of the pond after its lining cracked. Erick Meza of the Sierra Club called the scale of new fencing unprecedented and Tara Harris of the Phoenix Zoo warned it could destroy the last remaining habitat for multiple imperiled species. Advocates note border crossings in the Organ Pipe area have been negligible since 2025, and environmentalists and Indigenous leaders say the project would inflict irreversible harm on a biologically unique and culturally sacred site.

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