Border Wall Contractors Ordered to Stop Drilling Wells

The Trump administration has ordered construction crews building the border wall to stop drilling wells in drought-stricken New Mexico after ranchers warned that pumping groundwater needed to make concrete could threaten their livestock, according to AP News.

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. The current construction includes a “smart wall” with new technology such as sensors, lighting, and cameras, with a 30-foot wall going up in places workers didn’t get to the first time around and a second barrier being built where a wall already exists.

Ranchers Sound the Alarm

Russell Johnson, a cattle rancher whose property runs along the border, raised the issue at a public meeting in July after noticing an industrial well that 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.

“It would put us in an immediate catastrophe and having to do something with our livestock,” Johnson said. “I mean, it could potentially put some people out of business, us included.”

The Luna County Farm and Livestock Bureau hosted a public meeting in Deming, New Mexico, where more than 160 people showed up to express their concern. Johnson has been forced to reduce his herd to one-third of its original capacity due to the punishing drought that has gripped the region.

“These wells that they’re drilling for border wall construction, they’re talking about trying to attain 300-plus gallons a minute, and it’s going to pump us dry,” Johnson told WBUR’s Here & Now. “When you have livestock, you’ve got to water, they can’t wait. You can’t haul enough water to keep them in good supply, so it becomes an immediate disaster.”

Unpermitted Wells and Legal Dispute

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’s 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.

All the wells were drilled on the Roosevelt Reservation, a federally owned 60-foot strip of land that runs along the international boundary. In April, Customs and Border Protection sent a letter to the state engineer’s office saying the federal government is immune from state law that requires a permit to pump groundwater.

“We do disagree with that,” said Nat Chakeres, general counsel for the state engineer. “In New Mexico and it’s the same in all Western states, it doesn’t matter really if you’re on federal land or land of other ownership. To drill water wells, you need permits from the state engineer.”

Chakeres noted that CBP applied for and received permits to drill water for border wall construction during the first Trump administration. The Department of Homeland Security maintains it has the authority to waive environmental laws to get the wall built.

CBP’s Response

A spokesperson for CBP confirmed on Monday that border wall contractors in New Mexico have been instructed to stop drilling new wells, but did not comment on whether wells already drilled could be pumped. The agency said it would collaborate with New Mexico and the U.S. 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,” the agency said in a statement.

Tom Patterson, president of the New Mexico Cattle Growers’ Association, questioned why contractors couldn’t purchase water as they had in the past. “Why do they need all this water?” Patterson asked. “And why can’t they buy it as they have in the past from farmers, ranchers, or even from Luna County?”

Broader Controversies

The water dispute is part of a wider pattern of border wall construction controversies. In Texas, a federal judge recently allowed DHS to proceed with a border wall through a levee system protecting the town of Presidio, rejecting arguments that the wall could lead to flooding, as AP News reported. In California, Indigenous leaders say contractors are desecrating sacred Native American sites, including Kuuchamaa Mountain, at an unprecedented pace, according to NBC San Diego.

During the first Trump administration, ponds at the San Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge dried up after crews pumped millions of gallons of water to mix cement for the wall. The wetlands are home to endangered fish.

Political Flashpoint

The dispute has become a political flashpoint ahead of November’s midterm elections, with both Republican congressional candidate Greg Cunningham and Democratic Rep. Gabe Vasquez claiming credit for the moratorium in the race for a congressional seat representing the area.

“Ranchers, families and local officials brought us their concerns. I raised it with the Trump Administration. They listened. They acted fast,” Cunningham said in a post on X, as Breitbart reported.

Vasquez, who faces Cunningham in November, said: “This illegal drilling by this administration should never have happened, but when it did, I heard our ranchers’ concerns loud and clear and immediately raised hell in Washington to get the job done and protect New Mexicans’ water rights.”

What’s Next

Johnson said the moratorium on future well drilling is a step in the right direction, but he remains worried after a contractor told him the well near his ranch could eventually be pumped if crews ended up needing the water. So far, half a mile of secondary wall has gone up near his property.

“They need to stop pumping all of these wells because they were all drilled illegally,” Johnson said.

As CBP works with state and federal agencies to develop a groundwater strategy, the outcome will be closely watched by ranchers, environmentalists, and politicians alike — a test of whether the administration can balance its infrastructure ambitions with the water needs of communities already strained by drought.