Updated July 10, 2026 at 12:57 PM MDT
In its dash to build President Trump’s signature border wall, the federal government is drilling unpermitted wells into already-depleted aquifers in New Mexico, according to state officials.
The New Mexico Office of the State Engineer told Here & Now it counted at least six wells under development along the border, but none have the necessary permits required by state law.
One of the wells is on Russell Johnson’s cattle ranch, which shares an 8.5-mile border with Mexico.
“That’s where they’re currently drilling right now. It looks like they’ve hit water, too,” said Johnson, president of the Luna County Farm and Livestock Bureau.
Johnson said another well is near completion on his neighbor’s ranch.
He hosted a meeting Thursday night in the border community of Deming, New Mexico, where he said more than 160 people showed up to express their concern.
Johnson relies on a natural spring to supply water for his cattle and his home.
“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,” he said. “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.”
A punishing drought has already hurt ranchers across the West. Groundwater makes up more than half of New Mexico’s water supply, and that reserve is shrinking.
“Most all of our wells are kind of struggling,” Johnson said.
Construction crews use groundwater to mix cement for Trump’s wall. Myles Traphagen, a borderlands biologist who has been documenting border wall construction since it began in Trump’s first term, said he’s identified six wells along a 27-mile stretch of construction in Arizona.
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.
Now, construction across the region has started again. The 30-foot wall is going up in places workers didn’t get to the first time around, and a second barrier is going up where a wall already exists.
Customs and Border Protection calls it a “smart wall,” which includes new technology like sensors, lighting and cameras. Congress gave the administration nearly $47 billion to finish the project.
“This is a staggering amount of money and a staggering amount of resources that are being used for a border wall,” Traphagen said. “And it’s largely out of sight and out of mind.”
The issue is on the radar of state officials in New Mexico.
The wells are on federal property, within a 60-foot strip of land that runs along the international boundary known as the Roosevelt Reservation. In April, Customs and Border Protection sent a letter to the state engineer’s office that said 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.”
CBP applied for and received permits to drill water for border wall construction in the first Trump administration, Chakeres said. But without permits this time, it’s impossible to know how much water the government is using and what kind of impact it could have on local ranchers.
The Department of Homeland Security also maintains it has the authority to waive environmental laws to get the wall built. CBP provided a statement to Here & Now, saying water is required for road construction, concrete production and dust suppression. The agency said it is working with New Mexico to develop a groundwater management strategy.
“CBP’s goal is to minimize water use and to work collaboratively with local landowners to ensure that construction activities do not adversely impact their water needs,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, New Mexico rancher Russell Johnson supports tighter security. He’s a former Border Patrol agent, and he doesn’t want people crossing illegally through his ranch, which he says used to happen all the time.
But he’s not sure about the government’s decision to build a second wall in places where one has already been built, especially if it puts his water supply at risk.
“To me, it almost seems a little bit overkill,” he said. “There’s going to be fiber-optic sensor systems that are put in, cameras, different lighting and everything; it seems like if everything is working properly, and you’ve got the Border Patrol agents back on the border where they’re supposed to be, a secondary wall seems a little redundant.”
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
Copyright 2026 WBUR