The Santa Barbara Botanic Garden is seeking community support to help rebuild its Canyon Trail to ensure easy access to its popular redwood and historic Mission Dam exhibits.

On Feb. 17, more than 7 inches of rain fell in Mission Canyon over a 24-hour period. The storm transformed Mission Creek into a torrent of floodwater filled with large debris.

The deluge caused $20,000 of damage to the canyon’s pedestrian trails and the handrails on the Mission Dam.

Recently, the Santa Barbara Foundation granted the Botanic Garden $10,000 in emergency funding to support a portion of the cost of the repairs.

“With generous support from the Santa Barbara Foundation, we are halfway to reaching the $20,000 needed to fully restore the dam and the Canyon Trail,” said Steve Windhager, the Botanic Garden’s executive director.

“Supporters can help us reach our goal by creating a Facebook fundraiser on our behalf or directly contributing to the Garden,” he said.

The Garden’s Canyon Trail Restoration campaign is an eight-week fundraiser that seeks to bring in $10,000 from donors by Sept. 5.

This will allow the garden to make infrastructure repairs and ensure time for the ground cover to settle in place well before the next rainy season.

A video of the flood can be viewed at https://youtu.be/qvXnGaTavHI or on the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/sbgarden. In February, more than 144,000 Facebook users viewed the video.

The Mission Dam, situated on Mission Creek, is one of the oldest historic attractions at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden.

Built in 1806-07 by Chumash neophytes under the direction of the Franciscan padres, the dam and aqueduct system helped supply the Santa Barbara Mission with a reliable source of water.

While no longer providing water for the Mission, the structure has been preserved by the Botanic Garden and is a registered California State Historic Landmark.

To contribute to the Garden’s Canyon Trail Restoration campaign by mail, supporters can send a check to:

Stephanie Linder, Director of Development & Communications, Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, 1212 Mission Canyon Road, Santa Barbara, CA 93105. Please note Canyon Trail Restoration in the memo.

To give via Facebook:

Click Fundraisers in left menu of the news feed.
Click + Raise Money.
Select Nonprofit.
Search for Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, then choose a cover photo and fill in fundraiser details.
Click Create.

For more information about the Botanic Garden, visit sbbg.org. For more on the Santa Barbara Foundation, visit SBFoundation.org.

— Flannery Hill for Santa Barbara Botanic Garden.