ZAPATA, Texas (Border Report) — A local rancher is weighing the pros and cons of letting the State of Texas build a new segment of border wall, which he says is “an engineering marvel,” on his rural riverfront property.
Dr. Gary Schwarz is an oral surgeon from the Rio Grande Valley who owns La Perla, a deer hunting and bass fishing ranch in far western Zapata County along Highway 83. He also owns a nearby strip of land that goes to the Rio Grande, from where he gets water for his ranch, and that is where the state wants to build its border wall.
His neighbor to the north has already allowed the state to construct the 30-foot-tall metal bollards through his riverfront property, and so has another rancher north of that one.
The Texas Facilities Commission hired a company that began construction in March, and the land has been shorn of trees and brush and sloped, and the bollards have been going up quickly.
It’s the first segment of border wall ever to be built in Zapata County — a rural, ranching county with a population of just 14,000.
About a week ago, Schwarz, 71, says he received a contract offer from the state for his riverfront land, which he is mulling over.
“This is an engineering marvel. It’s beautiful,” Schwarz said Sunday as he took Border Report on a tour of the border wall construction site.
“It’s opened up a visual of this drainage rio. These banks were just vertical and they’ve sloped them. It’s beautiful, in my opinion, and it makes me feel more secure,” said Schwarz, who was named 2020 Texas Dentist of the Year by the Texas Academy of General Dentistry.
He says his ranch house was broken into about a year ago, and his adult son was attacked by individuals in a group of migrants. He said the incident was “quite frightening,” and he believes more border security is needed.
The property, which he bought in 2005, also has had a lot of fence damage from migrants crossing, he said.
“Our problems have been a lot of problems at night where they’re crossing our fences and they’re either cutting our fences and we lose our valuable animals or crawl over them and just literally so many people crawling over and they knock your fences down. That’s a big problem,” he said.
Schwarz says he’s grateful for Gov. Greg Abbott and his border security initiative Operation Lone Star, which has sent National Guard troops and DPS troopers to the border since 2021. He said he’s noticed a decrease in illegal immigration in Zapata.
“It really makes me proud of the State of Texas Gov. Abbott and the work they’re doing here,” he said.
But he has some concerns about the wall through his border property. Namely, he wants the state to guarantee that he will continue to have access to his water pump and water rights in the Rio Grande. And he wants to continue to be able to take birding tours south of the wall to the river.
“As an American, as a Texan, as a citizen of our country, it’s essential. As a businessman, I’ve got things that it could really mess up,” Schwarz said.
His bass ponds, as does his ranch about 3 miles from the border, rely on water pumped from the Rio Grande.
“It’s my only source of water, my river pump for 15,000 acres of land — 3,000 of my own, eight other owners owning the rest. And we need that water,” he said.
Right now he has a snaking line that is moved frequently to find the best source of water
At the river, a steep dirt road leads to a pristine Rio Grande wonderland with a unique giant rock formation jutting in the middle. It makes the distance across to Mexico seem minimal, but Schwarz says the water is very deep.
He says this is where Mexican Gen. Francisco “Pancho” Villa used to cross his army during the Mexican Revolution.
Chachalaca birds — which resemble small, brown chickens — can be heard crowing.
Schwarz says this is a popular spot for birders where rare species, not found elsewhere in the United States, can sometimes be seen, and adds that he’s not risking the opportunity to show this spot to others because of a wall.
“I do Audubon tours on the river. And that’s a big part of my business model. And so if we can solve those issues, I want to have this wall,” Schwarz said. “And if I don’t agree to it, there’s going to be a hole in the wall.”
The vista from atop rocks in the middle of the Rio Grande shows the new segment of state-built border wall in Zapata, Texas. Dr. Gary Schwarz says Mexican Gen. Francisco ‘Pancho’ Villa crossed his armies at this point, which now belongs to Schwarz. (Sandra Sanchez/Border Report Photos)
Schwarz reiterated that he not only wants “fair compensation” for the State of Texas to put a wall on his property but also to make sure he doesn’t lose access to his water.
“I think they should pay me a reasonable premium as a business would; that’s No. 1,” he said. “No. 2: I got to be able to protect that pump.”
Like his neighbor did, Schwarz plans to build a permanent irrigation system with a trench that brings the water to the pump.
“But if they won’t let me do it, that’s a game killer.”
Sandra Sanchez can be reached at SSanchez@BorderReport.com.
