The nonprofit Partnership for Resilient Communities has filed its application to install a series of steel-wire ring nets across the upper reaches of several Montecito canyons.
The heavily anchored net systems are designed to stop or slow debris flows should a rainstorm of high intensity cause a flood of mud, boulders, and uprooted trees similar to the natural disaster that occured on January 9, killing 23 Montecito residents and damaging or destroying more than 500 homes.
The permitting process with the County of Santa Barbara is now underway for Hot Springs, Cold Spring, San Ysidro, and Buena Vista canyons, all of which required permission from private property owners, including Ty Warner, who owns much of the canyon above his San Ysidro Ranch resort.