Guadalupe has new tools at its disposal to help prevent flooding during winter storms, thanks to its partnership with Santa Barbara County.
In 2023, historic rainfall caused the Santa Maria River to veer off its natural course—flooding Guadalupe’s Pioneer Street, the wastewater treatment plant, and farmland. After a months-long effort to get federal and state funding failed, Santa Barbara County invested $8 million in a Santa Maria River debris and sediment removal project that helped construct a temporary sand berm to help keep the river in its course.
But the city and county were concerned that it may not hold during severe storms like the ones forecast for this winter.
“In anticipation of the impacts of the first February 2024 storm, the County [Office of Emergency Management] Director made a request to the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) on behalf of the city of Guadalupe and the county for resources to prevent flooding,” County Office of Emergency Management Outreach Coordinator Jackie Ruiz told the Sun in an email. “As confirmed by DWR, materials provided included eight pallets of Supersacks and 1,800 linear feet of visqueen plastic rolls.”
Supersacks are large baskets that can be filled with sand, dirt, or rocks to help prevent flooding and protect Guadalupe in case the Santa Maria River floods again, Guadalupe’s Director of Public Safety and Police Chief Michael Cash told the Sun. Visqueen plastic protects levees from wave wash erosion.
“If we’re having an emergency, it’s a likelihood that the whole county and state [are] facing similar emergencies,” Cash said. “The idea is to be as self-sufficient as possible, but we can still make the notifications so they could be prepared if we got overwhelmed and our current resources were either depleted or we can’t keep whatever capacity.”
The state gave the flood protection materials to Guadalupe for free, but the city would need to come up with a reimbursement plan if they are deployed, Cash said. Fees could be waived if there’s an emergency activation or any financial challenges.
“We could deploy wherever we see fit, but our point of problems or issues was on the west side of Highway 1 at the bridge and the Santa Maria River, that’s where the temporary berm was built,” Cash said. “If the berm starts to fail, then we would deploy the baskets there; that way we can protect our city.”
During conversations about the debris and sediment removal project, county officials discussed investing in HESCO baskets, similar to Supersacks, to better protect Guadalupe, according to previous Sun reporting. This addition expands on Guadalupe’s efforts to develop an emergency preparedness plan as the city created an emergency response team to help it mobilize locally in extreme weather events, and previous state funding to buy cots, sandbags, and other flood prevention items.
“In my opinion, we are light-years ahead of where we were five years ago in regards to emergency preparedness. I’m not from Guadalupe, I’m a transplant, but this river and water damage has been occurring for at least the last 10 to 15 years,” Cash said. “What’s great now is we developed emergency shelters, we’re getting generators, we have our emergency plan, we have done everything possible to be self-sufficient [with] the resources we have.”
This article appears in Feb 22 – Mar 3, 2024.