History of the water rights of people in the Santa Margarita Watershed

Before recorded history, Native American tribes like the Cahuilla, Santa Rosa, Ramona and Pechanga hunted and fished along the 27-mile free-flowing river created by the rainfall and watershed coming off Anza’s Thomas Mountain. The river runs southwest through Anza, Aguanga, Temecula, portions of Murrieta and Wildomar into Fallbrook, from there to Camp Pendleton where its overflow empties into the Pacific Ocean.

The runoff also feeds a huge underground water basin. Today, the water from the basin is drawn out by wells that many local people depend on for their homes and commercial enterprises....