Tag archives: steel nets

Time for a Montecito Renewal
By Bob Hazard   |   February 14, 2019

A succession of winter storms has dropped four to six inches of intense rainfall on Montecito, and so far, cleaned-out debris basins, combined with wider creek channels, have saved the day. Now is an ideal time to pause and reflect on how you as an individual can help to make the Montecito community a safer […]

Mitigating Future Debris Risk
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   January 10, 2019

Next Wednesday, January 16, the Partnership for Resilient Communities and Montecito Union School’s superintendent Anthony Ranii will host an informational community meeting to discuss realistic opportunities to mitigate future debris flows.  In late December, the Partnership received emergency permits to proceed with the installation of 11 debris flow control nets in San Ysidro, Buena Vista, […]

The Impossible Made Possible
By Bob Hazard   |   January 10, 2019

While most of us in Montecito were making merry over the holiday season, former City of Santa Barbara Fire Chief, Pat McElroy, who is now Executive Director of the Partnership (Partnership for Resilient Communities), was pounding the halls of government, along with Montecito land use attorney Joe Cole, permitting guru Suzanne Elledge, and local government […]

The Year in Review 2018
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   December 27, 2018

It is more than obvious that 2018 was a pivotal year for Montecito and its residents. The first week of the year, we were recovering from the Thomas Fire, which weeks earlier had suffocated Montecito and Santa Barbara in smoke and ash while scorching nearly 282,000 acres from Ventura to Santa Barbara, including ten structures […]

Flood and Mud Preparedness: 2019
By Bob Hazard   |   December 6, 2018

While keeping a wary eye on the weather this winter, residents of Montecito are watching their rainfall charts, fearful of a repeat of heavy storms and mandatory evacuation notices. Seared in our minds are personal memories of the 1/9 disaster when a massive debris flow destroyed or damaged 470 homes in Montecito, and brutally took […]

Let’s Block the Rocks… Now
By Bob Hazard   |   July 26, 2018

The Montecito community faces a difficult 2018-2019 winter season. If we get too little rain, we will return to drought worries; too much rain and Montecito residents face evacuation and the possibility of additional mud and rock flows. Of the two perils – severe drought versus debris flow – the more pressing danger is the […]

“Swiss Nets” to the Rescue
By James Buckley   |   June 21, 2018

In an exquisitely crafted 2006 article about debris flows written for Canyon Voices and specifically about the nature of Rattlesnake Canyon, Karen Telleen Lawton wrote: “Barely a thousand years ago – a second on a geologist’s watch – a rainwater and boulder slurry called a debris flow surged through [Rattlesnake Canyon], strewing its 10 million […]