Photo by Taylor Dayton Cottonwood glow in the late-day light along the San Pedro River outside of Hereford.
ENVIRONMENT
A river runs through it Environmental issues along San Pedro haunt plans for the wall: confining a river not possible By Taylor Dayton
T
he mighty San Pedro River in Southeastern Arizona and Northern Mexico has survived droughts, floods, fires and wars, but will the Trump administration’s proposal to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexican border threaten one of the last undammed rivers in the United States? The river flows north out of Mexico and across the border into the United States near Hereford. The river has a rich cultural, ecological and historical record, and is the lifeblood to the small communities that have sprouted up along its banks. It also impacts a riparian area that is home to more than 250 migratory birds and more than 100 species of breeding birds, including the yellow-billed cuckoo. The riparian area of the San Pedro is also home to 84 24
species of mammals such as jaguars, coatimundi, beavers and bats. It is here in Southern Arizona where concerns about the environmental impacts of a possible “wall” on the river are mounting. Jacob Petersen-Perlman, research analyst for the Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Program at the University of Arizona’s Water Research Center said building a wall on the river “could be a big issue.” “But I think the bigger thing would be the wildlife, more so than the water itself,” he said. “I think that is what is seen as a more serious impact.” Petersen-Perlman is not alone in his concerns for the wildlife in the area assuming a wall is built on the border. Robert Weissler, president of the Friends of the San Pedro,
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