A beach nourishment project is taking place this week in Goleta and Carpinteria. This comes after the Central Coast got hit by storms that flooded and damaged many areas.
Santa Barbara County officials say they are working with sediment that would naturally make its way to the ocean but because some of the debris got trapped, it now needs to be manually moved.
The sediment replenishes the beach and prepares basins for the next storm according to officials.
"In order to prepare the debris basins for any future storm, the debris basins must be cleared out of sediments and that sediment needs somewhere to go," said Andrew Raaf, Santa Barbara County public works environmental manager.
Raaf said local basins such as the Santa Monica basin became full following the January storms.
"If the debris are not removed, those debris basins can lose their effectiveness in preventing flood and debris damage," Raaf said. "It's mid-January and the debris basins are full, and we have a full winter storm season ahead of us."
