San Antonio Necua / Cañon de los Encinos
Nestled into a northeastern nook of the Guadalupe Valley, this community of 6262 hectares lies on the outskirts of Mexico's prime wine producing region and at the base of a series of mountain ranges, including the prominent Sierra Blanca which provides an important source of water for the community. The original settlement of San Antonio Necua, at the base of the mountain, and other traditional settlements such as Jamatay were slowly abandoned as residents moved down to the Cañon de los Encinos (Oak Canyon) on the edge of the wide Guadalupe Valley in order to be closer to employment opportunities. Necua is the only indigenous community of Baja California to enjoy the benefits of water systems, electricity and other services. Although the dirt roads are sometimes impassable during the rainy season, most of the year Necua is the most accessible of all the communities.
Necua's main water infrastructure consists of several kilometers of pipe in poor shape leading from springs to a couple of water storage tanks just above the community. From these water is provided by gravity to residents. Many complained of water shortages during the dryer times of year. Because the community's drinking water system and irrigation system currently depend on the same source, the large amounts required for raising alfalfa tend to overtax the system. The community's location near a major watercourse, the Guadalupe River has little benefit for the community itself, since the city of Ensenada maintains a series of wells in the vicinity which displace large amounts of water for municipal use. Local wineries also use large quantities of water for irrigation, with the result that the creek is now dry most of the year, although there have been no studies carried out to measure the combined effects of this large scale pumping.
Grazing of livestock plays an important economic role in the community, where animals are maintained both in confined areas as well as free-ranging. The impact of this grazing is unknown, however as in most communities the evidence of accelerated erosion in areas of intense grazing can be easily observed.
One resident expressed concern about reduced numbers of deer, citing illegal poaching as a cause for concern. As in other communities, local residents wished to be able to monitor their own faunal resources, protecting them from poachers, keeping track of the animals' numbers and movements, issuing any permits and serving as guides if any hunting should be carried out.