The federal agency in charge of managing a unique wetland refuge in southeastern Arizona warned for several months that pumping water to build a border wall would decimate the habitat.
Correspondence obtained by two environmental groups shows that U.S. Customs and Border Protection ignored most of those warnings and pulled water from wells so close to the refuge that some of its ponds went dry. President Donald Trump has promised to build 450 miles of border wall by the end of the year. Environmental groups who oppose construction say it is severely damaging what they call an oasis for a number of endangered species.
