Feds don't renew water station permits for Tucson-based Humane Borders

For people in Tucson who volunteer, work, or travel in the borderlands, the loss of federally permitted water stations could make already dangerous desert routes even more hazardous. Humane Borders, the Tucson based nonprofit that maintains the stations, says federal agencies have declined to renew permits for 12 locations. Those sites represent about 30% of the stations the organization typically operates, although water stations on private and locally managed land will remain available.

The affected stations are spread across land overseen by the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Humane Borders provides water primarily for migrants crossing the Arizona desert, but the organization says hikers, hunters, and other people traveling through remote areas also use the barrels. The nonprofit is concerned that removing the stations will increase the number of people who die from dehydration or exposure in the region.

The permit changes began earlier this year. In March, Humane Borders removed one station from Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge and two from Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge. All three refuges are managed by the Fish and Wildlife Service. The organization’s board chair, Laurie Cantillo, said the affected locations were among the stations Humane Borders has traditionally maintained with permission from land managers.

The Bureau of Land Management notified Humane Borders by phone last week that it would not renew permits for three stations at Ironwood Forest National Monument. The nonprofit was given 30 days to remove the equipment and plans to take down the stations at the end of October. The sites operate seasonally from May through October, when extreme heat makes water access particularly important, and Cantillo said they have been used recently.

The National Park Service has also rejected Humane Borders’ request to continue operating six water barrels at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. The existing authorization expired September 30, according to a letter signed by Superintendent Raquel Montez. The agency asked the nonprofit to remove the equipment as soon as possible. Humane Borders plans to comply and remove the remaining barrels by October 30. Five stations are still operating there, while a sixth was removed last month after a road closure made the site inaccessible.

In its explanation, the Park Service said the stations could encourage migrants to travel farther into remote terrain because the availability of water might create a misleading sense of safety. The agency also cited concerns about trash and refuse, saying the sites were not consistently cleaned or inspected and that several weeks could pass between visits. The decision referenced federal rules involving permits, sanitation, and unattended property. Montez also wrote that allowing the stations to continue would not align with efforts by federal partners to improve border security inside the monument.

Humane Borders executive director Octavio Fuentes challenged that reasoning in a response to the Park Service. He said those concerns had not previously been raised with him, the nonprofit’s employees, or its field volunteers. Fuentes also pointed to the organization’s long relationship with federal agencies. Humane Borders was founded in 2000 and received its first permit for a station in early 2001. According to the group, it has renewed that authorization every year since then and has worked with federal agencies in Arizona for 25 years.

The nonprofit places blue, 55 gallon water barrels marked by blue flags in areas where migrant deaths have occurred. Fuentes argues that the stations are installed in response to fatal conditions already present in the desert, rather than creating the routes or drawing people into them. Humane Borders said it will pursue all lawful options for restoring access at the affected sites while continuing to work with ranchers, local governments, and other supporters. The group has not indicated that its privately or locally managed stations will be removed.

The dispute comes as deaths in Southern Arizona’s borderlands remain a persistent concern. Humane Borders said the remains of 16 people have been recovered inside Organ Pipe this year, more than twice the total recorded there during all of 2025. Ten of those people were found within a week of their deaths, according to information Fuentes included in the organization’s response. In July, 19 migrant remains were recovered across the Southern Arizona borderlands, the highest monthly total in two years. Some had been dead for months before they were found. More than 4,500 migrant remains have been discovered in the region over the past 25 years, underscoring why the permit decisions matter beyond the remote locations where the barrels sit.