Location: Santa Barbara County
Project Type: Restoration Planning
Status: Completed
Habitat Type: fish passage, Riparian
Cost: $1,394,000
Project Footprint: 5 stream miles
Assembly District: 37
Senate District: 19
Congressional District: 24
Project Lead/Grantee:
City of Santa Barbara Creeks and Water Quality Division (George Johnson, 805-897-1958)
For more information, visit scwrp.org
This project consisted of removing three primary barriers to upstream fish migration in the lower watershed of Mission Creek, those at the Caltrans channel, Tallant Road, and the Hwy 192 Bridge.
The photo above shows the lower channel of Mission Creek after barrier removal.
The removal of these barriers created five miles of new habitat for steelhead trout. The project aimed to fulfill the following objectives:
-Facilitate the migration of endangered steelhead trout
-Improve aquatic habitat for fish and amphibians
-Expand wetland habitat and improve water quality
-Increase foraging and nesting habitat for bird species, and increase tree canopy along the Mission Creek riparian corridor
-Improve the hydrology of Mission Creek by allowing for infiltration of surface water to groundwater
-The increased channel roughness and infiltration resulting from the project would improve surface water quality
-Use interpretive signage to provide opportunities for education concerning wetland habitat and water quality issues
