It looks like a beautiful section of creek in a Santa Barbara park. But for decades, huge cement walls lined the creek bed, sometimes turning it into a raging river during times of heavy rainfall.
A just completed project has restored this section of creek to its natural state
"This is Mission Creek, right here as it runs through Oak Park. The Creeks Division just completed a large restoration project, removing a bunch of concrete and creek banks, and concrete that was in the creek channel, and naturalized the creek," said Erin Markey, who is the City of Santa Barbara’s Creeks Division Manager.
She said the $800 thousand dollar, 1800 foot long project is in a key part of the 120 year old park. Non-native plants were removed, and replaced with more than 3000 native plants and trees.
The creek now looks natural, with lots of boulders. It’s hard to picture the fact it once had massive sections of concrete in the creek bed, and on its banks.
"There was a concrete wall that was right up against where the water flows through here. That concrete began to get undercut after time, and in response to that, concrete was poured in the creek bed to preventing water from getting underneath, and behind that wall. About a third of the channel was concreted in in this spot," said Tim Burgess, who is a Project Planner with the City of Santa Barbara’s Creeks Division.
He said while concrete channels provide some protections during storms, they also push water downstream. The channels don’t allow water to be absorbed into the ground. He says they’ve recreated an environment where boulders, and trees work together to slow floodwaters, and allow it be absorbed, helping to recharge the water table.
The native plants will also help naturally filter pollution in the water. They’ve planted 3,000 native plants and trees along the creek bed, to supplement what’s already in the park.
The $800,000 plus project was paid for in a very unique way. Hotels visitors picked up the tab.
In the year 2000, Santa Barbara voters passed Measure B. It increased the city’s transient occupancy tax from 10% to 12%. That’s the city’s room rental tax. The Measure B money is intended for water quality improvement and creek projects.
Markey said projects like this to revitalize creeks, and help the community's groundwater supply are a priority for the city.
The end result of this project is a more natural environment for the park, and a boost to the groundwater supply for the community.
And, it’s going to provide a better water supply for the massive oaks and sycamores which line the creek bed, some of which are hundreds of years old.