Regarding the ring nets installed in the canyons above Montecito in response to the disastrous mudslide of January 9, 2018:
As the executive director of an environmental organization in Santa Barbara, I joined the board of The Project for Resilient Communities (TPRC) to watch the proceedings from an environmental point of view. The ring nets were installed as a response to a major disaster, and to stop a future one. Expert biologists were hired to ensure the wildlife could get under and around the nets. The TPRC raised millions to ensure science, geology and environment were in place.
“They didn’t work” is an idiotic phrase when there are photos and video documentation of a net in San Ysidro Canyon filled with the remnants of a debris flow in January — this year. For those who have forgotten the floods of January 2023, a look at this New York Times article may refresh the memory: