The Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have ordered the stations removed, Humane Borders Executive Director Octavio Fuentes said. The removals include the group’s last station at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, north of Lukeville. The Department of Homeland Security and the land-management agencies cited trash and concerns that the stations draw migrants, according to Fuentes.

Fuentes said the stations were maintained and that the organization placed them in areas where people had already died. He said Humane Borders is now seeking partnerships with local governments, counties or private landowners to restore water access. About 70% of the group’s stations remain in other parts of the desert, he said.

The decision comes amid a deadly year in the Arizona desert. At least 89 migrants have been found dead in the state so far this year, most from heat or lack of water, according to figures cited by Humane Borders. Brad Jones, a researcher who maps desert deaths for the nonprofit, said the tally had risen from 75 remains located by August.

Jones said the harsh conditions make the removal of water access especially troubling. The International Organization for Migration has described the U.S.-Mexico border as the world’s deadliest land migration route.

The stations’ removal raises the stakes for people crossing remote desert terrain, where heat and limited water can quickly become life-threatening. Humane Borders says it plans to seek alternative sites for its water stations as federal permits end.