Santa Barbara’s Coastal Watershed divides into six sites: Carpinteria, Rocky Nook Park, Mission C, Maria Ygnacio, Atascadero and San Jose. All the sites are managed by a levee system, and half of these sites are empty; no water flows through them because it doesn’t rain frequently in Santa Barbara (typically only raining between 3-6 inches during the wet months, which is between November-March), but all empty at the Pacific Ocean, which is relatively close to the city (t-cep.org/floods). Typically, the average rainfall per year in Santa Barbara is only 16.98 inches, but when El Nino hits, the amount of rainfall nearly triples to 46.99 inches (t-cep.org/floods). Santa Barbara becomes more prone to mudslides and landslides during El Nino because
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Landslides and mudslides are both characterized by a large amount of mud, rock, or other masses of Earth sliding down a slope, such as a cliff or a mountain. Santa Barbara, a city parallel to the Pacific Ocean and right along the Santa Ynez mountain range, has been victim of landslides in the past. A notable example is the 1995 La Conchita landslide, which occurred due to El Nino rainfalls. It had rained eighteen inches that day; with water seeping into the cracks of the cliff and gravity pulling the water downward, the ground was eventually loosened and a rapid landslide was triggered. Geological analysis of the La Conchita cliff revealed that the upper portion of the cliff was less dense (made up of siliceous shale and sandstone) and was sliding at a faster rate than the bottom portion of the cliff, which was more dense, made up of mostly mudstone and marine sediment (Goldberg, …show more content…
An intricate levee system and three main reservoirs (The Cachuma, Jameson, and Gibraltar Reservoirs) are how Santa Barbara avoids floods. Debris basins are also utilized, such as the El Encanto Debris Basin and the Montecito Creek Debris Basin. The function of a basin is to capture liquid from urbanized areas (such as precipitation or runoff), from our streets, and deliver the water to local waterways through a series of underground pipes. There are also a number of storm drains, such as the Gobernador Storm Drain, that serve the same function (cosb.countyofsb.org). Lately, because of the drought, the storm drains and basins have been of no practical use, the water in all three reservoirs have been dwindling, and the rivers (such as the Santa Maria River, the Lower Mission Creek, and the Ventura River) that run parallel to the levees have been running dry. Although the approaching El Nino will be serious, the probability that Santa Barbara will suffer from a flood is little; it is estimated that a 1% chance of flood will occur in any given year, which is also known as the 100-year flood (Spittler, 2005).
However, despite the small chance that floods will occur, that does not mean floods don’t happen. Santa Barbara’s most historic flood, the 1992 flood, was brought upon by El Nino. It rained a record
Landslides and mudslides are both characterized by a large amount of mud, rock, or other masses of Earth sliding down a slope, such as a cliff or a mountain. Santa Barbara, a city parallel to the Pacific Ocean and right along the Santa Ynez mountain range, has been victim of landslides in the past. A notable example is the 1995 La Conchita landslide, which occurred due to El Nino rainfalls. It had rained eighteen inches that day; with water seeping into the cracks of the cliff and gravity pulling the water downward, the ground was eventually loosened and a rapid landslide was triggered. Geological analysis of the La Conchita cliff revealed that the upper portion of the cliff was less dense (made up of siliceous shale and sandstone) and was sliding at a faster rate than the bottom portion of the cliff, which was more dense, made up of mostly mudstone and marine sediment (Goldberg, …show more content…
An intricate levee system and three main reservoirs (The Cachuma, Jameson, and Gibraltar Reservoirs) are how Santa Barbara avoids floods. Debris basins are also utilized, such as the El Encanto Debris Basin and the Montecito Creek Debris Basin. The function of a basin is to capture liquid from urbanized areas (such as precipitation or runoff), from our streets, and deliver the water to local waterways through a series of underground pipes. There are also a number of storm drains, such as the Gobernador Storm Drain, that serve the same function (cosb.countyofsb.org). Lately, because of the drought, the storm drains and basins have been of no practical use, the water in all three reservoirs have been dwindling, and the rivers (such as the Santa Maria River, the Lower Mission Creek, and the Ventura River) that run parallel to the levees have been running dry. Although the approaching El Nino will be serious, the probability that Santa Barbara will suffer from a flood is little; it is estimated that a 1% chance of flood will occur in any given year, which is also known as the 100-year flood (Spittler, 2005).
However, despite the small chance that floods will occur, that does not mean floods don’t happen. Santa Barbara’s most historic flood, the 1992 flood, was brought upon by El Nino. It rained a record