Floating barrier sparks legal and environmental concerns one year after installation

EAGLE PASS, TEXAS - This week marks one year since the floating barrier was installed in the Rio Grande, and as the legal battle continues, new concerns are rising over the state of the buoys.

We showed you these images last week of the buoys, taken by Dr. Adriana Martinez.

She grew up in Eagle Pass and is now a fluvial geomorphologist and professor at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. She studies rivers for a living.

"They are not spinning in any way, they’re completely lodged there. They now have tree branches and trees stuck in there now," Martinez said of the buoys. "For the most part, they’re immovable right now."

"Do you think they’re operating the way they were intended to?" Reporter Jordan Elder asked.

"They’re really not doing what they were meant to do, however, they are causing significant damage to the river," Martinez said.

Grass, plants growing among border buoys in the Rio Grande, researcher says

State Rep. Vikki Goodwin, of Austin, says these new videos are concerning.

"I went out last August, was invited to kayak right beside them, so did have the opportunity to see them up close," Goodwin told us. "It was really pretty startling to see how much it has changed with all of the plants that are growing right beside and in between the buoys,"

Martinez told us that the changes are happening quicker than she expected and that the buoys are acting as an island in the river.

Last week, Martinez sampled the water, the soil, and the plants that now surround the area. She'll bring samples back to her lab in Illinois to conduct further research.

Goodwin sits on the House Homeland Security and Public Safety Committee, which often covers border issues.

"I think I will certainly raise the issue and raise the point that the buoys are having an environmental impact," Goodwin said. "What is the goal of having the buoy barrier up? I'm sure it's intended to slow down immigrants coming across. But are there better ways?"

Goodwin says ideally the state would work with the federal government on reforming immigration.

"I just think we're not spending enough time thinking about the environmental impacts and the human impacts," Goodwin said. "I think that we should look to immigration reform. If I had my wish, it would be that the state would really push Congress to do what they need to do to update our immigration laws."

But Texas Governor Greg Abbott has repeatedly told us he plans to secure the border if the federal government won't, and he'll take the buoy case all the way to the Supreme Court if he has to.

Martinez hopes her results help educate people in Eagle Pass and beyond.

"Hopefully, I'll get access again to look at how the area around the buoys is changing over time," Martinez said.

We asked the governor's office if Texas has done any environmental testing on the buoys, but haven't received a response.