EArTH DAy got tired of waiting and figured out how to find other funding. They would start at the bottom of the creek and work their way up — improvisationally — as resources allowed. The simplified plan called for eight new and wider bridges from Cabrillo to Canon Perdido. Of those, Cabrillo is still under construction and two more — Gutierrez and De la Guerra — remain to be built. Fayram and County Flood Control would take care of the sides and creek bottom. As an engineering collaboration, their dance rivals anything performed by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers for complexity, precision, and length of time. Exactly when the Lower Mission Creek Flood Control Project will be finished remains a matter of speculation. The final project description got final approval in 2009. Construction began late 2012. The best guess is 15 years.
Steelhead Situation
paul wellman file photos
FISH OUT OF WATER: For centuries, Mission Creek was home to the now endangered steelhead trout. Despite major efforts to make the creek more hospitable, no steelhead have been spotted making their way upstream from the ocean since 2012.
chris m. gardner
MAJOR MOJO: When the Army Corps announced its plans wouldn’t work, former county supervisor Naomi Schwartz applied sustained arm-twisting pressure to hammer out a more environmentally attuned compromise.
Kelly and Fayram regard this project as a success, contending it blends vastly better flood-control protection with the community’s environmental values. Trautwein of the Environmental Defense Center is a bit more qualified in his praise.“You can’t really call it a creek restoration project,” he stated.“But it’s definitely enhanced the creek’s riparian elements.” Birds and fish will be able to reclaim Lower Mission Creek, but possums, raccoons, coyotes, and other wildlife will have a hard time finding a toehold on the steep perpendicular creek walls.And the incessant pressure from urban development offers little hope that the riparian habitat along the creek banks will be expanded. Trautwein, an ardent proponent of steelhead restoration efforts, noted that not a single steelhead made its way up Mission Creek during this year’s heavy winter storms. He said no steelhead have been seen coming up Mission Creek since 2012, though for seven of the previous 10 years there had been. Part of the problem was the drought. Trautwein also blames City Hall for turning off its small contribution of water from the Mission Tunnel to Mission Creek because of the recent drought. Before that, he said, there were steelhead as big as 29 inches. Trautwein has been part of efforts to clear the creek of impediments from Cabrillo Boulevard all the way to Rocky Nook Park. City creeks czar Cameron Benson — who used to work with Trautwein at the Environmental Defense Center — was instrumental in gouging a steelhead-friendly channel into the paved stretch of creek running about a mile north from Canon Perdido Street. In addition, Benson helped clear out fish-passage barriers blocking steelhead — which can achieve speeds of more than 20 feet per second for short bursts — from getting past Oak Park. These improvements were made, however, after the drought started. To date, no fish have been witnessed taking advantage of the amenities. Under Benson, water quality in city creeks — Mission Creek in particular — has improved dramatically. Bacteria associated with human feces in the water have been curtailed, and about 55 tons of trash are yanked out of city creeks a year. “The situation is pretty dire,” Trautwein said.
INTERNET OF THINGS HISTORY AND HYPE, TECHNOLOGY AND POLICY
MAY 1, 2017 5:00 PM
Corwin Pavilion UC Santa Barbara
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Environmental considerations remain, as always, a matter of considerable controversy. But today, such considerations have not only a foot in the door but also a seat at the table. And Mission Creek looks a lot more like a creek than the cement cemetery originally planned for it more than 30 years ago. Coincidentally, late supervisor Naomi Schwartz got a commemorative plaque pasted onto the front of the County Flood Control building late last week. She richly deserved it. But Schwartz would never have had the opportunity to apply her formidably creative political mojo to the riddle of Mission Creek had it not been for Bruce Munson. Munson died in 1998 not long after moving with his wife to Washington State from diabetesrelated complications. He was 50 years old. Sometime before the Lower Mission Creek Flood Control Project is finished, I’m hoping the powers that be see fit to dedicate a space along the banks to acknowledge Bruce Munson’s role. Maybe a wrought-iron bench where people can perch, soaking up the music made when rushing water collides with waiting rocks. There’s something about a creek. It doesn't take a blind cabinetmaker to understand this. But in Santa Barbara's case, it helps. n BACKYARD BLISS: Being blind, Bruce Munson couldn’t see the creek that rumbled through his backyard, his wife, Sarah, recalled, but he loved the sound of water rushing over rocks.
MARGARET MARTONOSI H.T Adams ‘35 Professor of Computer Science
for more information please visit iee.ucsb.edu independent.com
april 20, 2017
THE INDEPENDENt
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