Santa Barbara staff narrow near-term options to reduce airport flooding, select Carneros Creek measures for costing
February 06, 2026 | Santa Barbara City, Santa Barbara County, California
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City staff on Feb. 5 laid out a draft climate adaptation plan aimed at reducing frequent flooding at Santa Barbara Airport and recommended immediate studies and cost estimates for three near-term measures focused on Carneros Creek.
Jessica Messer, a city staff presenter, said the vulnerability assessment — funded in part by two Coastal Commission grants — mapped airport assets and showed flooding has been a persistent problem historically and recently, with three closures in the past six weeks. Messer said precipitation modeling indicates storms of a given intensity will become more frequent and that sea-level rise will worsen tidal inundation over the long term.
The plan directs near-term attention to the airport’s northwest quadrant, where sediment buildup in Carneros Creek and local watershed runoff concentrate flood risk. "We installed the Carneros Creek K Rail temporary barrier," Messer said, describing earlier temporary measures deployed during recent storms. She said the city is conducting a drainage master plan and has already begun some on-the-ground dredging and sediment work.
Amber, a city staff presenter, described the measures staff are evaluating and the trade-offs involved. "The berm would replace the temporary K rail...and the berm would have enhanced habitat along as well," she said, describing a permanent berm and complementary habitat restoration as one option. Other near-term measures presented include floodplain creation or channel expansion on the north side of Carneros Creek, detention basins at the runway end, storm-drain pump stations to convert gravity drainage to pumped systems, temporary inflatable ("Tiger Dam") barriers and utility floodproofing and electrical conduit upgrades. Amber emphasized that every option requires feasibility assessment, hydraulic modeling and permit coordination.
Staff also outlined restoration-scale measures in Goleta Slough: removing or breaching remnant levees to increase tidal connectivity, and thin-layer sediment augmentation to raise marsh elevations where appropriate. Messer noted UCSB and other partners are advancing tidal-restoration work in portions of the slough. Several measures intersect with a federally required Taxiway Bravo extension and previous mitigation areas identified in the 2017 master plan.
Committee members pressed staff on modeling, contaminant risk and operational life spans. In response to a question about mobilizing contaminants from groundwater, staff said the proposal calls for hydrodynamic (hydrologic) modeling and that planned pumps would move surface water rather than draw groundwater; contaminant risk would be addressed through permitting and site testing. On the limits of near-term pump systems as sea levels rise, staff said the measures are intended as part of an adaptive sequence: "We have to reevaluate as we implement these as to the impacts for the future," a presenter said, noting some outfalls are already affected by king tides.
Messer described the next steps: develop current hydrologic modeling, produce conceptual plans and cost estimates for three priority measures (centered on Carneros Creek permanent berm, wetland restoration and a possible basin near Runway 15), continue the drainage master plan, pursue public outreach and prepare policy updates for incorporation into the airport local coastal program.
Staff said multiple permitting and partner agencies would be involved, including the Coastal Commission and federal agencies, and that the Chumash have been consulted about the plans. Funding sources were discussed but not finalized; committee members asked about airline contributions and the balance of airport fees versus other funding sources, and staff said airport revenues, capital-project budgets and partner funding would be evaluated as the projects move forward.
The committee did not take a formal vote; staff will return with modeling results, conceptual plans and cost estimates as the next procedural step.
Jessica Messer, a city staff presenter, said the vulnerability assessment — funded in part by two Coastal Commission grants — mapped airport assets and showed flooding has been a persistent problem historically and recently, with three closures in the past six weeks. Messer said precipitation modeling indicates storms of a given intensity will become more frequent and that sea-level rise will worsen tidal inundation over the long term.
The plan directs near-term attention to the airport’s northwest quadrant, where sediment buildup in Carneros Creek and local watershed runoff concentrate flood risk. "We installed the Carneros Creek K Rail temporary barrier," Messer said, describing earlier temporary measures deployed during recent storms. She said the city is conducting a drainage master plan and has already begun some on-the-ground dredging and sediment work.
Amber, a city staff presenter, described the measures staff are evaluating and the trade-offs involved. "The berm would replace the temporary K rail...and the berm would have enhanced habitat along as well," she said, describing a permanent berm and complementary habitat restoration as one option. Other near-term measures presented include floodplain creation or channel expansion on the north side of Carneros Creek, detention basins at the runway end, storm-drain pump stations to convert gravity drainage to pumped systems, temporary inflatable ("Tiger Dam") barriers and utility floodproofing and electrical conduit upgrades. Amber emphasized that every option requires feasibility assessment, hydraulic modeling and permit coordination.
Staff also outlined restoration-scale measures in Goleta Slough: removing or breaching remnant levees to increase tidal connectivity, and thin-layer sediment augmentation to raise marsh elevations where appropriate. Messer noted UCSB and other partners are advancing tidal-restoration work in portions of the slough. Several measures intersect with a federally required Taxiway Bravo extension and previous mitigation areas identified in the 2017 master plan.
Committee members pressed staff on modeling, contaminant risk and operational life spans. In response to a question about mobilizing contaminants from groundwater, staff said the proposal calls for hydrodynamic (hydrologic) modeling and that planned pumps would move surface water rather than draw groundwater; contaminant risk would be addressed through permitting and site testing. On the limits of near-term pump systems as sea levels rise, staff said the measures are intended as part of an adaptive sequence: "We have to reevaluate as we implement these as to the impacts for the future," a presenter said, noting some outfalls are already affected by king tides.
Messer described the next steps: develop current hydrologic modeling, produce conceptual plans and cost estimates for three priority measures (centered on Carneros Creek permanent berm, wetland restoration and a possible basin near Runway 15), continue the drainage master plan, pursue public outreach and prepare policy updates for incorporation into the airport local coastal program.
Staff said multiple permitting and partner agencies would be involved, including the Coastal Commission and federal agencies, and that the Chumash have been consulted about the plans. Funding sources were discussed but not finalized; committee members asked about airline contributions and the balance of airport fees versus other funding sources, and staff said airport revenues, capital-project budgets and partner funding would be evaluated as the projects move forward.
The committee did not take a formal vote; staff will return with modeling results, conceptual plans and cost estimates as the next procedural step.
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