Posted on June 5, 2023
Santa Barbara County is conducting emergency dredging operations at the Carpinteria Salt Marsh to limit the flood risk for adjacent properties.
Operations are expected daily as needed and last until July of 2023.
That sedimentation, details Santa Barbara County Public Works Department, obstructs the flow of Santa Monica and Franklin Creeks into the salt marsh and poses a flood risk for the City of Carpinteria.
Obstructed channels for water into the salt marsh also interrupt the natural tidal cycle in the marsh, leading to reduction in habitat size.
Santa Barbara County is using a hydraulic dredge vessel to remove sediment from the drainage channels that enter the marsh and moving that sediment into the surf zone through a discharge pipe.
This dredging is similar to actions performed after major debris flows in 2018.
Due to the outflows from the dredging activity, the beach is closed 400 feet in either direction of the marsh’s mouth and beachgoers are asked to not approach the pipe nor equipment involved.
