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Due to the increased flooding risk to adjacent properties and the City of Carpinteria, Santa Barbara County will conduct an emergency dredging operation at the Carpinteria Salt Marsh. Final plans and surveys are underway, with operations expected to begin in mid-March. Operations will continue as needed until the amount of sediment in the marsh is no longer a flood risk to the community. Further information will be provided as it develops.
The County proposes to use a hydraulic dredge vessel to remove sediment from the drainage channels in the marsh. The hydraulic dredge vessel exports water and sediment through a discharge pipe into the surf zone at a designated location near the mouth of the Salt Marsh. The dredge may operate up to 24 hours a day, seven days a week to expedite the operation. The marsh was dredged in a similar fashion previously following the 1/9/18 Debris Flow.