An environmental group is calling attention to a government assessment that found a well being used in the U.S.-Mexico border wall construction is impacting endangered species that live in an Arizona refuge, The Hill reports.
Defenders of Wildlife on Monday published the government report from June that found the Glenn Ranch Well “is significantly impacting wells located at San Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge.”
“This correlates with why some ponds at the Refuge are void of water, and why it is so difficult to maintain water levels at other ponds that currently have threatened and endangered fish species,” it states.
The well is being used by the federal government to make concrete for the wall, according to Jacob Malcom, director of the Defenders of Wildlife’s Center for Conservation Innovation.
The use of the well is putting the endangered Yaqui catfish, beautiful shiner, Yaqui chub, and Yaqui topminnow fish species at risk, according to the environmentalist group.
They also said the Chiricahua leopard frog, Mexican garter snake, and Huachuca water umbel plant are being threatened, in a statement.
Malcom, who is also a former biologist at the refuge, told The Hill that, for some species, a loss of water means a loss of habitat and an inability to survive.
“One of the big threats to the water umbel is the loss of wetlands,” he said. “If it dries out too much, the species just cannot grow. When the water is lost, the wetlands are lost they lose their habitat and they simply can’t exist there anymore.”
The San Bernardino refuge, which is located along Arizona’s border with Mexico, stretches for 2,369 acres.
According to Fish and Wildlife Service, the refuge was established in 1982 to protect wetlands, including the San Bernardino ciénega, which is considered the largest and most extensive in the area.Related Stories:
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