A boulder wall installed along San Ysidro Creek to protect media mogul and Montecito resident Oprah Winfrey’s estate from flooding and creek erosion is now at the center of a controversy over whether it was properly permitted.

Jimenez Nursery, a Carpinteria-based company, applied for a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers using Winfrey’s Montecito address on Santa Rosa Lane, in the exclusive Ennisbrook neighborhood.

It is unclear whether Winfrey has any knowledge of the wall or authorized the work.

Some residents have raised concerns about whether the wall could reroute water and affect other properties, and whether it could stand during the next rain event.

Video reviewed by Noozhawk showed the boulders being lowered by crane into the creek from Winfrey’s property.

A band of officials, including game wardens, Santa Barbara County inspectors and others, converged in the creek on Tuesday to examine the wall and figure out what happened.

Jimenez Nursery obtained the permit on Feb. 1 for a “like-for-like” reconstruction of the creek bank after the Jan. 9 rain event. The permit request also sought to “place boulders along creek side that have eroded and washed away.”

Crystal Huerta of the Army Corps of Engineers, who received the like-for-like rebuild request, did not return Noozhawk’s calls. Until Tuesday, there was no follow-up by the Army Corps of Engineers or any other agency to review the construction of the rock wall.

Montecito residents have dealt with the devastating impacts of floods for years.

The 2018 debris flow took the lives of 23 people. Five years later, another major storm hit that flooded some residents’ properties.

Property owners throughout California have been wrestling with the impacts of the heavy rains the past three months, and the Army Corps of Engineers and the California Department of Fish & Wildlife have been deluged with permit requests for fixes.

Steve Gibson, a senior environmental scientist for the Department of Fish & Wildlife, South Coast Region, was among the people at the site on Tuesday.

He said Fish & Wildlife has its own process for approval, and that the agency is now speaking with the property manager and company that installed the wall to obtain more details.

“We are seeking information of how it was constructed,” Gibson said. “We don’t know if it was dug and trenched in with larger rocks that we would like to see with certain banks.”

It is common for the Corps of Engineers to grant emergency permits during flood events to protect properties, but homeowners are only supposed to rebuild with the same materials, and the work cannot extend beyond the original conditions.

Gibson spoke with the property manager on Wednesday.

“The property manager is working with us to comply with our Fish and Game Code requirements for this new wall,” Gibson said. “We are going to review what he has given us.”

Property owners are supposed to notify Fish & Wildlife in writing within 14 days after beginning the emergency work, which did not happen in this case, according to the agency.

Although advance notification is not required for emergency work, consultation before beginning the work can enable Fish & Wildlife staff to identify ways to minimize both impacts to resources and the need for any remedial actions, according to Fish & Wildlife.

Sharon Byrne, executive director of the Montecito Association, spoke with Noozhawk about the situation. She said it’s an example of many state and federal agencies having pieces of the puzzle, but no one entity allows for a clear permitting process.

Byrne said Ennisbrook residents contacted the Montecito Association and raised concerns about how the wall might push water onto their properties.

“The main concern is, are you creating a higher velocity situation to someone else’s property?” Byrne said.

The storms earlier this year damaged several Montecito parcels, and many owners took emergency action to protect and restore their properties.

However, the question is whether this boulder wall goes too far.

“You can’t alter creek canals and not expect there to be results,” Byrne said. “Don’t change the creeks. They are going to shift and move on their own.”

Byrne said the situation is delicate, but that she hopes it can be fixed.

“Obviously, the Montecito watershed is a very different entity, and it needs careful, careful stewardship at this time,” Byrne said. “It was eye-opening for us to see how many agencies are involved to see what happens in creeks, and we just hope everyone can come to a satisfactory resolution here and no one downstream will have any effects.”

Gibson said he recommends that the Ennisbrook residents hire a hydrologist and geologist to determine a permanent, long-term fix for the creek. He said it’s unknown whether the wall will increase velocity when the next storm comes.

Once Fish & Wildlife obtains more information about how the wall was installed, Gibson said, the agency will decide how to proceed and whether any remedial action is needed.

He said he is sympathetic to the situation.

“A lot of people are scared about the threat of floods after the 2018 debris flows,” Gibson said. “I feel for them. They are trying to do their best.”