Last week, the Project for Resilient Communities (PRC) announced the withdrawal of its application to Santa Barbara County for an extension of its permit to operate the Montecito Emergency Debris Flow Mitigation Project, a.k.a. the Montecito ring nets. The PRC cited a breakdown in negotiations with the County regarding the cost of ongoing maintenance as the reason for its change of course. On November 7th, the PRC initiated removal of the nets.
The development is good news for wildlife of the coastal creeks of the Los Padres, as well as for ForestWatch, which advocated (alongside a coalition of like-minded environmental organizations) for the PRC to uphold its commitments and promises to the community regarding the nets.
The Montecito Debris Flow of 2018 damaged and destroyed hundreds of homes and buildings and tragically resulted in the death of 23 community members. It was with that tragedy in mind that local residents admirably banded together to implement the Montecito Emergency Debris Flow Mitigation Project, six steel ring nets stretched across Montecito creeks to add incremental additional protection for downstream homeowners until the fire-scarred slopes had revegetated.
Despite the well-intentioned nature of the endeavor, the ring net project faced a high degree of skepticism. Though seemingly large in scale, the actual capacity of the nets is dwarfed in relative comparison to the volume of material that gets transported during a large storm event, yet alone a debris flow event. Further, environmental groups expressed concern about the feasibility of clearing the nets, should they fill up with debris during a storm. The remote nature of the nets requires transportation of heavy equipment by helicopter to the site, an expensive undertaking. The nets were also located in potential habitat for several special-status wildlife species including southern California steelhead, California red-legged frog, coast range newt, southwestern pond turtle, two-striped gartersnake, and Cooper’s hawk.
Last January, the upper net on San Ysidro creek filled with small debris that would have otherwise traveled downstream to the ocean. Due to various complications, the PRC was not able to clear out the blockage within permitted timelines resulting in the blockage of an important wildlife corridor for roughly 10-months. The blockage was finally cleared in October.
The PRC pitched the ring net project to the community and local agencies as a temporary, emergency project that would be fully funded by private entities. Nevertheless, millions of public tax dollars have been spent to-date on the project, and up until this recent announcement, the PRC was reversing course on its commitment to remove the nets now that mountain slopes have revegetated post-Thomas Fire.
The PRC was also advocating for the County to permanently take over project costs. The Santa Barbara County Flood Control District offered to enter into a temporary 50-50 cost share with the PRC. The PRC ultimately determined that the arrangement was not financially feasible, withdrew its proposal to the County, and removed the nets. The development marks the end of controversial, if well-intended, project.
A 2023 study of Montecito’s flood control situation cited concerns that the nets may have provided a false sense of security for community members, arguably increasing risk to public safety.
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