Laura Capps begins term
Adventures in kayaking
New 2nd District supervisor talks about housing and more - A2
Photographer and author to give talk - B1
Our 167th Year
RAIN TOTALS
Santa Barbara County Building
YESTERDAY.......................... 0.00” SEASON TOTAL.................. 18.38” CACHUMA LAKE LEVEL..... 741.99 83.0%
75¢
T H U R S DAY, J A N UA RY 1 2 , 2 0 2 3
State Street does well during storm Storm drains remain open, not affected by parklets By NEIL HARTSTEIN NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
KENNETH SONG/NEWS-PRESS PHOTOS
The water level rose another 10% Wednesday at Lake Cachuma, which is expected to fill up and spill over sometime this weekend.
Lake Cachuma keeps rising Reservoir expected to spill over; increase in water described as ‘great news’ for the drought
State Street fared well during this week’s major winter storm, despite some minor flooding onto downtown sidewalks, city officials said. “Storm drains remained open and flowing, though some were at capacity during heaviest downpours,” Sarah Clark, the city of Santa Barbara’s downtown plaza parking manager, told the News-Press. “We had high volumes of water everywhere, but especially the 400, 500 and 600 blocks, where we saw some minor flooding onto the sidewalks,” she said. “However, the water drained away pretty quickly once the rain eased up. In some areas, this left mud behind which crews are working on cleaning.” Stormwater runoff was able to flow down the street uninterrupted despite the presence of the outdoor dining parklets that line both sides of lower State Street — including 15 parklets that, as of the last city inspection, had not made the required adjustments in their design necessary to accommodate stormwater runoff, missing a Dec. 1 deadline. “Parklets on State Street did not prevent the flow of stormwater,” Ms. Clark said. “We checked the street regularly to make sure water was flowing along the gutter,
COURTESY PHOTO
Sarah Clark
and parklet drainage channels remained open. We did not have to move any parklets.” City staff headed out Wednesday for the next round of inspections, she said. The delinquent parklets had been issued administrative citations that gave a Jan. 6 compliance deadline. Each administrative citation carries a fine of $100. Following Wednesday’s reinspection, the city will send out another round of administrative citations for any parklets that remain noncompliant. “If a business receives two admin citations and fails to remedy the violation by the compliance date on the second Please see PARKLETS on A4
SB City Council to consider parklet fees By NEIL HARTSTEIN NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
At left, efforts are under way Wednesday to recover sunken watercraft at Lake Cachuma. At right, Montecito Creek flows parallel to Olive Mill Road Wednesday in Montecito.
By KATHERINE ZEHNDER NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
Lake Cachuma is expected to fill up and spill over sometime this weekend, helping Santa Barbara County’s fight against the drought. On Wednesday, the lake continued to rise two days after the storm that doubled its capacity level. In approximately one day’s time, the reservoir’s capacity rose almost 10% in the aftermath of the storm. On Saturday, Lake Cachuma’s capacity was at 35.9%. After the storm that stretched into Monday night and early Tuesday morning, the lake rose to 73% capacity, according to Eric Boldt, warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service at Oxnard. On Wednesday, Matt Young, the Santa Barbara County Water Agency manager, told the NewsPress that Lake Cachuma was at 82.4%, “with a water elevation of 741.2 feet. It is expected to continue filling and reach its nominal full elevation of 750 feet early this weekend. Beyond that, flashboards installed on the gates
add 3 feet of additional storage to closely monitor the weather and 753 feet’.” model potential inflows to the This was confirmed by Mr. reservoir. Inflows that would push Boldt. the reservoir elevation above “It’s currently at 82.4% and is its capacity would be released expected to reach 100% and spill downstream by USBR, in such over the spillway sometime this a way to minimize downstream weekend,” Mr. Boldt said. “This is flood peaks.” great news for the drought with Lael Wageneck, the public improvement in information the short term officer for Santa and very good for Barbara County For the latest about storms, see water supply for Public Works the city of Santa Department, readysbc.org. Barbara.” talked to the More about the aftermath of this The NewsNews-Press week’s storm will appear in Friday’s Press asked about the and Saturday’s editions of the NewsMr. Boldt how progress at Press. rainfall averages Lake Cachuma. compare to last “At the year. beginning of the day on Jan. 9, “We are well ahead of last year Cachuma Lake was at roughly 700 — for the water year starting feet,” Mr. Wageneck said. “It is now Oct. 1, Santa Barbara is currently at approximately 742 feet. So the at 13.09 inches. Last year at this elevation of the lake rose 42 feet in time we only had 8.83 inches.” two days (on Wednesday). Noted Mr. Young, “The National “... Cachuma started Jan. 9 at Weather Service forecasts light36.6% capacity, and as of 3:30 moderate rain this weekend p.m. on Wednesday is at 83% (1 inch to 3 inch), and possibly capacity … With the lake’s filling more rain early next week. The rate, we anticipate it will reach federal Bureau of Reclamation 100% capacity this weekend,” Mr. and County Flood Control Wageneck said.
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The storm’s continuing impact was seen around Santa Barbara County. The rise in water at Lake Cachuma caused a vessel to sink, and News-Press photographer Kenneth Song took pictures of the efforts to recover the sunken watercraft. The recent flooding and resulting damage led to the closure of Nojoqui Falls Park in Solvang. And elsewhere in the Danish-themed city, Alisal Road was under a hard closure due to flooding from recent rainstorms. Down south, the Montecito Creek, which saw rising waters during the storm, was flowing steadily next to Olive Mill Road in Montecito. On Wednesday, Rep. Salud Carbajal joined more than 30 California members of Congress, as well as U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla, in a bipartisan letter to to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Federal Highway Administrator Shailen Bhatt, to request expedited support, funding and other assistance to Please see STORM on A4
The Santa Barbara City Council today will consider implementing a proposed fee structure for the outdoor dining parklets that line State Street and nearby side streets. The fees will pay for the cleaning, maintenance and operation of the downtown’s Pedestrian Promenade, But first, the council will deal with two items connected to this week’s winter storm that slammed into the city with heavy rain and high winds. Council members will meet at 2 p.m. in the David Gebhard Room at 630 Garden St., Santa Barbara. They will receive a report from city staff regarding the recent storm and the city’s response, presented by Emergency Services and Public Works departments. Then they will be asked to adopt a resolution ratifying Monday’s Declaration of Local Emergency issued by the city administrator, acting in the capacity of director of emergency services. City Administrator Rebecca Bjork proclaimed a local emergency due to conditions of extreme peril to the safety of
persons and property caused by storms and flooding. The law requires the council to ratify such an emergency declaration within seven days. Later in the meeting, the council will be asked by staff to provide final direction to staff to establish a schedule for Outdoor Business Facility Charges for use of the public right-of-way on the State Street Promenade, including from the 400 to 1300 blocks of State Street. The staff will return to the council for adoption of a resolution setting the Outdoor Business Facility Charges as recommended. On Sept. 20, the council took a number of actions regarding interim operations on State Street. One of the actions was directing staff to present payment options for the outdoor dining parklets to the Finance Committee for consideration before returning to council for approval of a payment structure. On Dec. 6, the Finance Committee heard a presentation from staff, but after considerable discussion, the committee could not agree on a recommended payment structure and directed staff to forward the item to the full council for discussion and approval. Please see COUNCIL on A4
INSIDE
L O T T E RY RESULTS
Classified................. B4 Life...................... B1-2 Obituaries............... A4
Wednesday’s SUPER LOTTO: N/A Meganumber: N/A
Wednesday’s DAILY 4: 7-3-8-2
Tuesday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 7-13-14-15-18 Meganumber: 9
Wednesday’s FANTASY 5: 2-6-22-23-27
Wednesday’s DAILY DERBY: 04/07/11 Time: 1:40.28
Wednesday’s POWERBALL: N/A Meganumber: N/A
Sudoku................... B3 Weather................. A4
Wednesday’s DAILY 3: 4-0-9 / Wednesday’s Midday 5-1-8