Finally, a legal hook for the border fence

As you've read in these pages before, there haven't yet been any great strategies to stop the border infrastructure nightmare that is being foisted upon the desert southwest by the Tough-on-Terror Bush Administration. But, hey, this week, we found a few good reasons to hope:

1. The International Boundary and Water Commission said that a controversial 700-mile fence along the US-Mexican border may violate the 1970 Boundary Treaty, which resolved all pending boundary differences between the United States and Mexico. This is the first legal hook we've seen that could stop parts of the wall from destroying the Colorado River, the Santa Cruz River, the San Pedro River, and the Rio Grande, among others.

2. The New York Times published an article about the environmental impacts of the fence, which is great, since any attention to the issue is good attention. (Most of this week's media was instead focused on the intricacies of the immigration bill instead).

3. Other people are blogging about it.

So, line your legal dockets with International Water Law. Read Science Tuesday. And Blog. Together, we've got to fight this tooth and nail.

- Lozen