The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors approved locally funding debris and vegetation removal in areas that were flooded in the city of Guadalupe on Tuesday.
Heavy rain earlier this year caused the southern bank of the Santa Maria River to breach at least three locations.
This impacted areas in the City of Guadalupe including farmland, homes and churches.
On Tuesday, officials from the Public Works Department presented to the county board of supervisors a temporary fix estimated to cost up to $8 million to do work from Highway 1 to the Pacific Ocean for debris removal and to realign the Santa Maria River back to its original channel.
While it’s a critical step county officials took, it’s not a common one.
“This isn't the way that we normally deal with this. The only reason that we're here is because we have exhausted every possible avenue. We basically heard 'no' enough times at this point," said Supervisor Steve Lavagnino during the meeting on Tuesday.
“What the board did which is unusual is actually, take money out of different pockets of county money including our pile, which is federal funds, including some other funds that they had in there, and that were designated for another area, and they moved it to this program, to this effort," Guadalupe Mayor Ariston Julian told KSBY.
According to Mayor Julian, it’s something that hasn’t happened in a long time.
Staff from the Public Works Department explained during the meeting that they haven’t received support from state or federal governments.
Many community members at the meeting hoped would be approved to help restoration efforts like regain coastal access to the dunes.
“To see the river being put back into its place as critical from a mental health aspect as there are many times where myself, friends and neighbors go out to our access on Main Street at the beach there to relax, walk along the beach, fish on the beach," said a community member during public comment in Tuesday's meeting.
The mayor of Guadalupe added that it’s a step in the right direction.
“For the supervisors, they've been challenged to come forward with the plan. They did. We, the city, Guadalupe, and the residents of Guadalupe and the farmers and ranchers in Guadalupe, we really thank the county for making this step forward," said Mayor Julian.
Santa Barbara County Fire has already started assisting with vegetation removal and flood control staff started working before the funds were approved on Tuesday.
