adopt a water station

The Reyes-Carillo Station is dedicated to a young woman immigrant from Guatemala. In the 1980s, Mima Reyes fled the land of her birth amid the violence of U.S.-backed dirty wars that plagued her country. Mima's journey crossing the border into the U.S. was a long, painful ordeal, but once in the U.S., with the help of a generous benefactor and an immigration attorney, she was able to get the proper documentation.

Mima will always hold a special place in the heart of Vice-Chair Bob Feinman. Mima cared for Bob's terminally ill mother, staying with her until the time of her death, going on to care for his aging father. In 2009, Humane Borders dedicated this water station to Mima and the Reyes-Carillo family.

Cemetery Hill, near Arivaca, is the site of an old homestead cemetery from the early 1900s. It's also one of the most challenging areas that we drive, involving an incredibly  steep climb up and down a 4WD road that's been plagued by erosion over the years. 

From the top of Cemetery Hill is a panoramic view of the Altar Valley, though the beauty belies just how dangerous this area is for people crossing.

Humane Borders driver Kirk Astroth penned a poignant essay about Cemetery Hill that describes the area and his thoughts about the important role Humane Borders plays in working to prevent migrant deaths.  

North of the Arizona/Mexico border near the Sasabe Highway (286), this station prevents migrant deaths from dehydration. It also helps reduce the risk of people drinking unsafe water from cattle tanks at Altar Valley ranches.  

In 2007, the station was dedicated to honor Bishop Minerva Carcaño, the first Hispanic woman appointed as a district superintendent of the United Methodist Church in the U.S., and the first Hispanic female elected bishop. Bishop Carcaño is well known for her commitment to ministering immigrants and refugees on the U.S./Mexico border. 

Under Carcaño’s leadership, the United Methodist Church Relief Fund (UMCOR) granted Humane Borders funds for the purchase of two water trucks to service locations in the Arizona Sonoran Desert. 

Humane Borders honors Bishop Carcaño’s advocacy efforts for the untold number of thirsty migrants crossing dangerous desert lands in search of life and hope. 

Located between two washes, the Tim Holt station provides water in a remote area of the Ironwood National Monument about 70 miles north of the border. The area is graced by several species of hardy desert plants, including saguaro cactus, ocotillos, ironwoods, palo verdes, and chollas.

The station is named for longtime Humane Borders volunteer and treasurer Tim Holt, who is credited with rescuing a migrant woman he found near death near one of our stations. Holt called Border Patrol and cooled the woman while awaiting the arrival of a rescue helicopter, an action that likely saved her life. 

In an interview after the event, Holt said, "The general public has no idea what's going on and they need to know." His compassionate action embodies what Humane Borders is all about. 

Established on Pima County property, the Ed McCullough Station is situated on the fringe of the Ironwood National Monument  in hauntingly beautiful but desolate mountainous desert terrain.

The McCullough Station is one of a special group of stations named after the people who are all about the heart and soul of the work that we are here to do: saving lives. Starting in 2002, Ed McCullough started producing maps in a project that would encompass more than six years of walking migrant trails and hundreds of hours of meticulously mapping nearly 4,000 miles of migrant trails on GPS systems.

McCullough’s work has contributed to the work that we do at Humane Borders as reflected by the stark red dots found on our death maps. From 2003 to 2018, McCullough worked in partnership with the Pima County Medical Examiner’s Office to map the GPS coordinates where recovered human remains were found. 

Our Gene Buell Station was named after a dedicated Humane Borders driver who took trips out for us for more than 15 years. Gene had worked as a surveyor, and he loved spending time in this part of the desert where migrants were known to cross. It was Gene who came up with the idea for our cinderblock and wood barrel stands.

 Gene Buell is one of three water stations that we maintain on Ironwood Monument lands, but unlike the other two Ironwood stations we service, Gene Buell is a lonely station situated on a vast floodplain where, as our Operations Manager Joel Smith so aptly puts it, "You can see forever." Standing at the station, volunteers can glimpse Baboquivari Peak to the south and Picacho Peak to the north.

Whispering Coyote is one of seven water stations we maintain on City of Tucson lands where migrants cross. The station gets its name from an incident that occurred at the site on a water run back in 2019. Peculiarly, as the volunteers were checking the station's water levels, Truck 5 suddenly locked her own doors. Because there was a problem with the truck that necessitated leaving the engine running, the driver and volunteers were locked fast out.

After calling Triple A, the driver and a volunteer walked to the paved road to wait for the truck to arrive. As they stood, a large dog from a nearby property noticed them and was rapidly approaching. Suddenly, a coyote was heard in the distance. The moment was suspended in time as the three stood still listening, the two volunteers from their positions, the dog from a good hundred yards away as the coyote let out a long, mournful wail. The dog turned tail and ran after the coyote, allowing one of the volunteers who was fearful of the dog a safe exit back to the truck. 

This is one of three stations that Humane Borders maintains in the Ironwood Forest National Monument northwest of Tucson. Situated near the Silver Bell and Waterman Mountains, the monument encompasses nearly 300 square miles of Sonoran Desert. Carbon dating suggests some of the ironwood trees have survived more than 800 years.

Our Ironwood water stations are situated in some of the most beautiful landscapes in Southern Arizona. But for crossing migrants, this rugged, desolate landscape is harsh and unforgiving. Since 1991, 153 migrants have perished in this area. This is why Humane Borders is committed to maintaining its stations here--to prevent more migrant deaths.

The Figueroa water station is in an elevated section of the Altar Valley, north of Arivaca. At the end of a dirt road, access to Figueroa can be tricky, requiring a steady climb while in 4 WD up a rocky road that winds through a grove of desert ocotillo.

During the summer rains, drivers must navigate around a large mud puddle that collects on a low section of road. There is a beautiful view of Baboquivari Peak from this station, though the beauty belies the sad reality that this area is among the deadliest for migrants in southern Arizona.   

Our Senita Basin station is in a basin or depression in the  Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument near Lukeville, Arizona. The small basin is filled with organ pipe and senita cactus, as well as a myriad of other native desert plants. The senita cacti are long and armless and sometimes have "hair" or "beards" on their tips. 

On one water run, we found a black one-gallon water jug under the spigot of the barrel. We felt certain our arrival had interrupted someone getting water. We left the jug behind so this person could resume filling it and continue on their journey. Now, every time we visit the station, we wonder what happened to the traveler who left the jug behind. 

Named in memory of a beloved Humane Borders volunteer, the Kim Johnson water station is in the Altar Valley off the Sasabe Highway (286). This is an area where, sadly, many people have died over the years, in the shadow of the Baboquivari Mountains.

To access the station requires maneuvering through a dense grove of thorny trees (which leave "Arizona pinstripes" on the sides of our vehicles), and around a large mudhole that forms after it rains. This station is also known for a large sandpit on approach to the barrel, that can present a challenge for even the most experienced drivers. We're committed to bringing water to the desert even under these challenging conditions.