{"id":980174,"date":"2026-08-04T13:50:24","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T13:50:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/980174\/"},"modified":"2026-08-04T13:50:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T13:50:24","slug":"contractors-building-border-wall-ordered-to-stop-drilling-wells-in-drought-stricken-new-mexico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/980174\/","title":{"rendered":"Contractors building border wall ordered to stop drilling wells in drought-stricken New Mexico"},"content":{"rendered":"

PHOENIX<\/strong> \u2013 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.<\/p>\n

The order comes as crews across the southern border race to complete one of President Donald Trump’s highest domestic priorities \u2014 barriers that span four states and received over $46 billion in federal funding. Controversies have sprouted up in Texas<\/a> and California<\/a>, with border-town residents and environmentalists reporting a wide variety of issues with construction.<\/p>\n

U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which oversees border wall construction<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt 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,\u201d said Russell Johnson, a cattle rancher whose property runs along the border. <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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 U.S. Department of Agriculture to develop a groundwater strategy. <\/p>\n

\u201cCBP is committed to working collaboratively with local landowners to ensure that construction activities do not adversely impact their water needs,\u201d read the statement. <\/p>\n

The federal contractors building the wall in New Mexico \u2014 Caddell Construction Co. and Fisher Industries \u2014 did not respond to emails or phone calls seeking comment. Messages left with receptionists for Barnard Construction and Spencer Construction Co., the contractors building near Johnson’s ranch, were not immediately returned.<\/p>\n

State agency that monitors wells said contractors drilled illegally <\/p>\n

The New Mexico Office of the State Engineer, which monitors and approves wells across the state, said staff have counted eight wells drilled without the office\u2019s permission along the southern border, but cautioned there could be more. Staff visited two wells in July and reported they were pumping 200 gallons per minute.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll non-tribal wells in New Mexico, whether they are drilled on state or federal land, must have permits from the state engineer before they can be drilled or water can be pumped from them,\u201d the Office of the State Engineer said in a statement.<\/p>\n

The wells for border construction were all drilled on a federally owned strip of land 60 miles (96 kilometers) north of the border called the Roosevelt Reservation. CBP did not respond to follow up questions about whether the federal government has a right to pump groundwater on federal land without state oversight.<\/p>\n

Cattle ranchers report culling herds due to water scarcity <\/p>\n

Tom Patterson, president of the New Mexico Cattle Growers’ Association, says water is the No. 1 concern for ranchers and that if wells start to go dry, it\u2019s already too late. During wall construction in Trump’s first term, Patterson said, contractors bought water from farms, ranches, or municipalities in the area, which meant the amount of water being pumped from nearby basins didn\u2019t increase during construction.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy do they need all this water?\u201d said Patterson. \u201cAnd why can\u2019t they buy it as they have in the past from farmers, ranchers, or even from Luna County?\u201d <\/p>\n

Johnson said the moratorium on future well drilling is a step in the right direction, but he\u2019s still worried after a contractor told him the well near his ranch could eventually be pumped if crews ended up needing the water. Though beef prices are up, Johnson has been forced to reduce his herd to one third its original capacity. He cites the drought, which has left less grass for cattle to graze on, as the main reason for the drop.<\/p>\n

Before the first border wall went up, Johnson remembers seeing at least one truck of people crossing his ranch every week. Now, he says illegal crossing hardly ever happens on his ranch. As a former Border Patrol agent, he supports the border wall but doesn\u2019t believe it should cost him his livelihood.<\/p>\n

So far, half a mile of secondary wall has gone up near Johnson\u2019s property.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey need to stop pumping all of these wells because they were all drilled illegally,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n

New Mexico politicians scramble to claim credit for deal<\/p>\n

Both candidates in the race for a congressional seat that represents this area in New Mexico claimed credit for the moratorium.<\/p>\n

Congressional candidate Greg Cunningham, a Republican, said he advocated for the agreement between CBP and border wall contractors and was the first to announce the news over social media on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cRanchers, families and local officials brought us their concerns. I raised it with the Trump Administration. They listened. They acted fast,\u201d Cunningham said in a post on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Congressman Gabe Vasquez, who faces Cunningham in November’s midterm elections, spoke about the issue on the House floor earlier this month.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis illegal drilling by this administration should never have happened, but when it did, I heard our ranchers\u2019 concerns loud and clear and immediately raised hell in Washington to get the job done and protect New Mexicans\u2019 water rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Schuettler is a corps member for The Associated Press\/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America<\/a> is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHOENIX \u2013 The Trump administration has ordered construction crews on a border wall to stop drilling wells in…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":980175,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[23],"tags":[10109,69,746,393311,393310,393312,159,283422,61,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-980174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-climate","tag-donald-trump","tag-environment","tag-gabe-vasquez","tag-greg-cunningham","tag-russell-johnson","tag-science","tag-tom-patterson","tag-u-s-news","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117037565469586175","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/980174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=980174"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/980174\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/980175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=980174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=980174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=980174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}