San Jose De Le Zorra
This community of 14,440 hectares in the municipality of Playas de Rosarito is centered in San Jose, a small, remote valley located about halfway between the former mission site of San Miguel on the Pacific Coast and the Valley of Guadalupe. This is also a former mission site and today Mexico's most important wine producing region.
La Zorra, another traditional settlement now occupied by neighboring ranchers, is another small valley a few miles northwest of San Jose. As in most communities, resident's ranches are often spread out over a wide area, wherever permanent water sources exist. The lower altitude and relative proximity to the cost combine to create a mild climate where oak woodlands, chaparral and grasslands come together. A limited amount of agriculture, for the most part dry farming along with some irrigated crops, has been carried out since the early part of the century, however livestock grazing has also driven the local economy, as evidenced by visible erosion of the main arroyo. Large areas of topsoil adjacent to the arroyo were "washed away" during the storms of the early eighties, along with an earthen dam which had been built there. Very few seedling willows, sycamores or oaks can be observed, probably due to hungry cattle, and those trees that still stand are almost all of the older trees. Erosion has also been increased from the clearing of native shrub cover from large tracts of land, for planting.
Wetlands plants such as willow, salt willow and juncus are particularly important in this community, since they are the raw materials from which artisans produce a variety of forms of elegant basketry. The increasing demand for Kumiai basketry has become a major force in the local economy, where a large percentage of the local residents now depend to some degree on the income generated by this traditional activity. Unfortunately the changes in the main arroyo have affected this emerging cottage industry. Artisan Gloria Castañeda notes that the materials necessary for making baskets are becoming increasingly difficult to acquire: "We have to go further and further away to find our materials". Fortunately, through collaboration with the Kumeyaay community of Campo, California and the CUNA Institute, a wetlands restoration project in the main arroyo is currently underway, with one of its goals being the reestablishment of basketry plants.
The existing water infrastructure in the community is the result of many different projects which have been carried out over the years, many of which were never completely finished. The San Jose valley appears to have great agricultural potential, however ground water levels and quantities have not been identified.