TUCSON, Ariz., Aug. 25, 2008
Critics Say Border Fence Causing Flooding
Environmentalists Say Flooding Evidence Fence Built Without Regard For Environment
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In this photo provided by the Naitonal Park Service, flooding at the port of entry at Lukeville, Ariz. and Sonoyta, Mexico is seen on July 12, 2008. (AP Photo/National Park Service)
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In this photo provided by the National Park Service, flooding around border fencing at the border of Lukeville, Ariz. and Sonoyta, Mexico is seen on July 12, 2008. (AP Photo/National Park Service)
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Photo Essay Border Insecurity The slow, sensitive path to tighter security along America's borders.
Critics say the design of the border fence caused debris and water backup during a July 12 storm that led to flooding at the port of entry at Lukeville and Sonoyta, Mexico, and at the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.
"One of the reasons for it was the debris that accumulated on the fence itself," said Lee Baiza, superintendent of the monument, a 517-square-mile lush desert tract overseen by the National Park Service.
Environmental groups have criticized the manner in which the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and contractors for federal agencies have designed and built a range of fencing and vehicle barriers at various points along the Arizona-Mexico border.
In particular, they've denounced Homeland Defense Secretary Michael Chertoff's waiver of environmental laws to hasten construction as the Bush administration pushes to complete 670 miles of fences and other barriers by year's end along the nearly 2,000-mile Mexican border.
The barriers are intended to deter illegal immigrants and drug smugglers.
Critics have said the design of the pedestrian fencing being put in on the Arizona border is flawed. Much of that fencing consists of 10-foot wide and 15-foot tall steel-mesh panels, some featuring a series of wide horizontal grates at the bottom designed to let water and sediment flow through.
"While the Bush administration may claim it's taking environmental impacts of the border wall into consideration, building wire mesh fences across washes prone to debris-laden floods is fundamentally flawed," Robin Silver, a spokesman for the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement.
Defenders of Wildlife spokesman Matt Clark said what happened at Organ Pipe validates the warnings voiced to Homeland Security before construction started.
"It doesn't take an expert hydrologist to anticipate the potential for these walls to become like dams," Clark said, "especially in flash flood type of storms, where a lot of water and debris are generated very quickly and can pile up against the fences very rapidly."
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He noted that rapidly moving runoff in washes dislodged or eroded large chunks of concrete foundations, and debris stacking up against the fence created barriers that redirected water, creating gullies and causing even more erosion.It doesn't take an expert hydrologist to anticipate the potential for these walls to become like dams.
Matt Clark, Defenders of WildlifeFederal officials maintain that while Chertoff has invoked his waiver authority three times in Arizona, he has ordered Customs and Border Protection and Border Patrol officials to adhere to environmental requirements.
"We are still required to follow every environmental rule, regulation and policy," said Robert Gilbert, chief of the Border Patrol's Tucson sector. "He does not waive us doing what we would have to do without the waiver. So it doesn't change anything in the environment."
The Organ Pipe monument's staff produced a report earlier this month on the pedestrian fence's effect on the 330,000-acre monument's drainage systems and infrastructure.
It concluded that the fence failed to meet hydrologic performance standards of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers or standards set by the U.S. Border Patrol's final environmental assessment for the project.
That assessment determined that the 5.2-mile pedestrian fence would have no significant impact on the monument's environmental features.
But the recent monument report said its own staff had raised concerns last year over the fence-building plans, based on knowledge of local flash flooding.
The July 12 storm dumped as much as 2 inches of rain in about 90 minutes in the area, and water running through washes on the monument backed up as debris piled along the base of the fence.
It created pools up to seven feet deep and flows several hundred feet wide that eroded some areas along patrol roads. The waters even scoured some fence and vehicle barrier foundations.
"The monument had suggested that they take into consideration everything that can happen with a weather event," particularly an accumulation of debris, Baiza said. "We had a concern that this was going to happen."
Baiza said the fence designers are being asked to come back and study the drainages again to come up with alternatives.
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Posted by IDNNSG at 08:04 PM : Aug 25, 2008
I''m always amazed at the fact that you think you''re so much smarter than everyone on this board.
get the Chinese to build it
The debris comes from the Mexican side, the fence just keeps it there. That is the reason for a fence.
No, I don''t live in the city, and yes, you are right. Debris can be all what you claim. But I have been by the border, and I know some this Debris is garbage.
Have you ever seen the southern border with Mexico?
Like I said the envirnmentalists would be better served to find out who the offending country is, and have them clean it up. Weather it''s from nature, or man made debris, it still needs to be cleaned up.
Esp. off the fence.
Keep building the fence boys!!
Posted by slim1h2o at 07:23 AM : Aug 25, 2008
Just curious.. Do you live in a city? Do you not realize that ''debris'' can be items from nature? The debris would be things such as tumbleweeds, limbs from shrubs, small rocks, large rocks if the flooding is big enough, etc. Whose fault would those items be? Maybe you should volunteer to go keep all that from mounting up everywhere so that it will not collect on the fence.
- by slim1h2o August 25, 2008 10:23 AM EDT
- The real question the Environmentalists should be asking is, " Where is this debris coming from"? Which country? Find that out, and have the offending country clean house. I''m sure it would be far more advantages to clean up the garbage, would it not?
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See all 19 CommentsKeep building the fence boys!!