Santa Maria will get help paying for a park ranger dedicated to keeping the Santa Maria Riverbed clean of encampments and trash. 

The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors approved funding of $42,864 on Tuesday to help fund the role. The approved amount is only half, leaving the rest to the city to provide. 

In July 2024, after several months of collaboration, the county, with the assistance of local nonprofit organizations and agencies, cleared the riverbed and transitioned people into temporary housing.

More than 100 encampments, 120 people and about 300,000 pounds of trash were cleared from the riverbed, according to Fifth District Supervisor Steve Lavagnino. 

“Every time you drove across the bridge, we’d look out and see a whole other city out there in the riverbed,” he said.

However, Lavagnino and Fourth District Supervisor Bob Nelson said they’re worried that Santa Barbara is taking on too much responsibility caring for the area as the riverbed mostly falls in the jurisdiction of neighboring San Luis Obispo County.

“I want to publicly call them out to say that we need partners here. It is your jurisdiction, and I’d love to see you at the table as a physical and financial partner,” Nelson said. 

Jesús Armas, the county’s director of Community Services, said there has been a lot of discussion with San Luis Obispo County, but it’s not ready to sign a comparable agreement. 

“We hope that we can continue those conversations and hopefully persuade them this is advantageous should this continue to the next fiscal year,” he said. 

Lavagnino said the ranger is imperative in keeping the riverbed clean. Without it, he said, the area will return to its original state with encampments and trash under and west of the Highway 101 Santa Maria bridge and Preisker Lane, near the city border.