COUNTY CONTINUES CARPINTERIA SALT MARSH DREDGING

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Due to the increased flooding risk to adjacent properties and the City of Carpinteria, Santa Barbara County is conducting an emergency dredging operation at the Carpinteria Salt Marsh. Operations will continue 24-hours as needed until the amount of sediment in the marsh is no longer a flood risk to the community. The estimated completion date is early July 2023, as operational safety and circumstances allow. Further information will be provided as it is developed. 

After the creek flows receded following the extreme rains from January 2023, the Carpinteria Salt Marsh revealed an extreme amount of sedimentation. This sedimentation obstructs Santa Monica Creek and Franklin Creeks. When these channels are obstructed, the community is at increased risk for flooding throughout the City of Carpinteria. Obstructed channels also interrupt the tidal cycle in the marsh, which reduces habitat for fish and wildlife that rely on open water channels for habitat and foraging. 

The County is using a hydraulic dredge vessel to remove sediment from the drainage channels in the marsh. The hydraulic dredge vessel exports water and sediment through a discharge pipe into the surf zone at a designated location near the mouth of the Salt Marsh. The marsh was dredged in a similar fashion previously following the 1/9/18 Debris Flow.

The beach is Closed to Public Access 400 ft in each direction of the marsh mouth. Please do not approach the dredge pipe and equipment. Beach water quality samples are collecting during operations. Sampling results are be posted at https://www.countyofsb.org/emergencybeachops. 

For more information on the County’s response to the local emergency, visit readysbc.org.