Santa Barbara launches 30‑year coastal adaptation plan and unanimously backs state climate 'superfund' concept

The Santa Barbara City Council on March 10 heard the official launch of a roughly 2½‑year Waterfront/Coastal Adaptation Plan and voted unanimously to support state legislation to create a climate “superfund” to help pay for major adaptation projects.

Melisa Edric, the city’s manager of Adaptation and Resilience, told the council staff will pursue a coordinated program across five related efforts — a regional coastal monitoring program, a water/wastewater adaptation plan, a Laguna flood‑resilience project, airport planning, and a waterfront (shoreline) plan — and emphasized a public outreach phase beginning in April. “Estamos emocionados de lanzar un proceso de divulgación de 3 meses de duración sobre posibles opciones de adaptación para la zona costera,” Edric said during the presentation.

Project manager Timmy Bolton summarized the technical findings: ongoing storm damage and erosion have already removed wide swaths of beach in places, and staff modeled three sea‑level rise scenarios used for planning: about 0.8 feet (≈2050), 1.6 feet (≈2065) and 2.5 feet (≈2075). Bolton said the city is studying a “box of tools” — from temporary deployable flood barriers and beach nourishment to elevated continuous walking/cycling paths and, where necessary, more substantial engineering such as low rock revetments or groins — and will evaluate each option for feasibility, cost, permitting and ecological tradeoffs.

Councilmembers pressed staff on model calibration, impacts to Cabrillo Boulevard, and coordination with regional partners; staff noted models were calibrated to local field observations and that the plan is deliberately phased so near‑term “quick wins” can proceed within existing budgets while larger actions seek additional funding.

Because the scale of the work will exceed city funding alone, staff recommended and the council endorsed a resolution supporting state‑level climate financing. Councilmember Snedon moved the staff recommendation and Councilmember Friedman seconded; the motion passed on a unanimous vote. City staff said they will continue community outreach (10 board/commission presentations, a mid‑April community survey and several open houses), publish a public draft this summer, and return for continued council consideration of specific projects and funding strategies in the months ahead.

What’s next: staff will run a three‑month outreach program, publish a public draft of the plan this summer and return to the council in a later meeting with funding details and recommended phased actions.