PHOENIX — U.S. and Mexican officials are investigating whether a concrete barrier inside a drainage tunnel running under Nogales led to a costly flood on the Mexican side of the border.
Representatives with the International Boundary and Water Commission, including Commissioner Carlos Marin, were in Nogales today to get a look at the barrier and assess whether the U.S. Border Patrol built it on the Mexican side of the border without permission.
Border Patrol spokesman Lloyd Easterling said the barrier was built in February on the international boundary because smugglers were busting through a tunnel gate.
“They were cutting and bending and using jacks to lift up the gate and get under there, and that wall made it very difficult for them to get to the bottom of that gate and do anything to it,” he said. “I’m not an engineer, but it is premature at this time to say that this backup was caused by this wall.”
He said the barrier originally was 3½ feet tall, but is now a foot shorter; the Border Patrol helped shorten it after officials in Nogales, Ariz., and Nogales, Mexico, expressed concern following the flooding.
Jesus Quintanar, a project manager with the Mexican side of the water commission, said the barrier blocked 40 percent of water in the tunnel during monsoonal rains earlier this month, causing part of the tunnel to cave in and send water pouring through downtown Nogales, Mexico.
He said the flood caused between $6 million and $9 million in damage to homes and businesses.
The tunnel, built in the 1930s, is a 20-foot-wide rectangular concrete conduit that ranges between 11 and 18 feet tall.
Sally Spener, a spokeswoman for the U.S. side of the water commission, said the Border Patrol did not consult with her agency before building the barrier.
She said it is premature to say the barrier is solely responsible for the flooding, adding that the Mexican portion of the tunnel is in poor condition.
Easterling said another contributing factor could be other tunnels built by smugglers that lead to the drainage tunnel, possibly weakening the area.
He said the Border Patrol is working with the water commission and other agencies to understand what caused the flooding in Nogales.
“We put that wall in, and it could have played a part. However, that remains to be seen,” Easterling said.
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