Federal agencies are pulling water out of one of the deadliest stretches of desert on the continent. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the National Park Service (NPS) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) have refused to renew permits for a dozen water stations run by Humane Borders, a Tucson nonprofit. The decision ends a 25-year partnership and removes the final station at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, north of Lukeville.

The timing could not be worse. At least 89 migrants have been found dead in Arizona so far this year, most of them killed by extreme heat and dehydration. The International Organization for Migration calls the U.S.-Mexico border the world’s deadliest migration route over land. Brad Jones, a researcher who maps desert deaths with Humane Borders, says the count of remains found has climbed from 75 in August to at least 89 now.

According to Humane Borders, the agencies pointed to trash and claimed the stations draw migrants into the desert. Executive Director Octavio Fuentes says the stations were always kept clean and working, and that new ones only go where people have already died. “We have always been good stewards of the land,” Fuentes told AZFamily.

Taking water away from places where people keep dying puts more lives at risk. If litter is the concern, there is a simple fix: work with Humane Borders on cleanup standards instead of shutting the stations down.

The BLM, NPS and FWS should renew these permits now and keep water in the desert.

Sign the petition to tell federal land agencies to restore these water stations before more people die of thirst this year.