Save Our Sacred San Pedro River
News and Commentary
SIERRA CLUB, SOUTHERN BORDER COMMUNITIES COALITION, AND ACLU REACH SETTLEMENT WITH U.S. GOVERNMENT IN BORDER WALL CASE CHALLENGING THE ILLEGAL TRANSFER OF MILITARY CONSTRUCTION FUNDS
DHS to return $427M in military funds spent on border wall, create animal portals in Az
Full settlement agreement here
This settlement only applies to those areas in which Department of Defense (DOD) funding was illegally utilized for wall construction.
Southern Border Communities Coalition Factsheet
The map embedded in this story shows the segments w/DOD funding sources:
https://www.gao.gov/blog/building-border-barrier-u.s.-army-corps-engineers-contracting-efforts
San Pedro River Advocacy
The San Pedro National Conservation Area finally has federal water rights to protect it!
Read Tony Davis’ coverage in the Arizona Daily Star.
Threats to our River intensifying with the impacts of the Border Wall . After a monsoon rain event on September 11th, 2023 one of the large floodgates (see top photo above) was blown out from the force of the water. Photo above shows Tony Heath, co-founder of MAWC documenting the blow out at Silver Creek near the San Bernardino NWR in 2021. With this second blowout it is all too evident this revolving door of environmental degradation will continue if not addressed in our critical watersheds.
Trespass cattle and grazing authorizations by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) continue to degrade the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area (SPRNCA).
Emily Ellis' series in the Herald Review, Sierra Vista, AZ:
Cows in SPRNCA at Heart of Controversy Between Environmentalists and BLM, https://www.myheraldreview.com/news/cochise_county/cows-in-sprnca-at-heart-of-controversy-between-environmentalists-blm/article_d913e260-04bd-11ee-b7c9-1b64204d8dae.html
The Legislative History Behind Today’s Legal Battles in the SPRNCA, https://www.myheraldreview.com/news/cochise_county/the-legislative-history-behind-todays-legal-battles-in-the-sprnca/article_a9fcb1a2-0a1f-11ee-8a9c-afa41a78dbb1.html
Three Decades of Controversial Grazing in the SPRNCA, https://www.myheraldreview.com/news/cochise_county/three-decades-of-controversial-grazing-in-the-sprnca/article_29063888-1a10-11ee-b731-8b4615d8a92c.html
Our San Pedro River advocacy amplifying the impacts of the Border Wall fostered a creative, collaborative partnership with Matt Kondolf, Professor of Environmental Planning at the University of California, Berkeley. Following a meeting MAWC organized in October 2020 at the San Pedro River border wall location with CBP, Professor Kondolf tasked his Environmental Planning class in Spring 2021 to study the impacts of the wall on water and wildlife. Subsequently, a few of the class members led by Professor Kondolf visited the River and other critical watersheds along the wall in May 2021. Tony documented their visit in his film, "UC Berkeley Studying the Wall."
December 2022, Hannah Hansen, masters student in Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning conducted research at the San Pedro River with MaFe Gonzalez (alumni of Professor Kondolf’s). Hannah’s research goals are to elaborate on the hydrological implications of the border wall on the San Pedro River, draw attention to the engineering decisions made by the agencies that designed and constructed the wall, and to provide recommendations to prevent erosion of the river’s banks and protect native species and their habitats. The excerpt below is from Hannah’s research paper, Spring 2022:
The San Pedro River has been treasured by conservationists, birders, and environmental activists for decades, and is one example of a river that bridges the political boundary between two countries—the United States and Mexico—making it of particular significance both ecologically and politically. Like most desert rivers, the San Pedro is perennial and subject to the cyclical pattern of arid months followed by surging monsoon seasons that begin in mid-June and last through the end of September. The expansion of the border wall by the Trump administration in 2020, which included a segment across the San Pedro River and its nationally recognized conservation area, brought alarm to stewards of the river on both sides of the border. My study at UC Berkeley is currently focused on the hydrological implications of the border wall and engineered gate structures at the San Pedro River through modeling various storm events and border conditions to compare overbank flows, flooding, and erosion.
We are very grateful for Professor Kondolf’s leadership in mentoring the talented and dedicated environmental scientists that are committed to amplifying the impacts of the wall on the San Pedro River. The drumbeat will go on with your donations for our Drums Along the San Pedro Support Fund to continue this vital research and enable us to share through online webinars and community outreach events. Water is Life and We will Stand Tall for the River or risk losing a rare jewel and the last free flowing desert River of the southwest!
