This desert oasis is a biological wonderland. Trump’s border wall threatens to destroy it

Environmental groups are sounding the alarm over plans that threaten a desert spring that’s home to rare fish and turtles and sacred to the O’odham people Quitobaquito Springs in south-west Arizona has been called a biological wonderland with few equals. The springs are an oasis in the vast Sonoran desert along the US-Mexico border, held sacred by the O’odham people, who call it A’al Vaipia. Here, water flows out of an aquifer at the bottom of a hill, runs along a short concrete channel and collects in a pond. The pond is home to Sonoyta pupfish, which are small and silvery, with upturned jaws. In the channel are found small mollusks the size of chia seeds known as springsnails. This is the only place on Earth where these two species live in the wild. It’s also the only US habitat for the Sonoyta mud turtle, a reptile with a domed shell and the ability to survive amid scarce desert water sources. The spring, located within Organ Pipe Cactus national monument, provides one of the only reliable bodies of water for about 100 miles in any direction, making it vital for wildlife in the area and for humans who have lived here for millennia. In 2020, the Trump administration com