Within the Coachella Valley region, three faults associated with the San Andreas fault system bound the Mission Creek Subbasin. These faults separate the Mission Creek Subbasin from the adjacent Desert Hot Springs and Indio subbasins as well as the Garnet Hill Subbarea of the Indio Subbasin. The merger of the faults defines the southeastern boundary of the Mission Creek Subbasin. The Subbasin area is fully bounded on one side and partially bound on a second side by mountain ranges, which leads to groundwater replenishment from the mountain range runoff. Water within the Mission Creek Subbasin then slowly moves from the upper valley in the northwest towards the Indio Subbasin in the southeast.