San Ysidro Creek in Montecito is bone dry right now, but the possibility of super El Niño storms has neighbors worried about possible flooding during the rainy season this fall and winter.

Residents living near the creek on La Vuelta Road, off of Jameson Lane, are hoping local agencies can do some preventive work to address flooding concerns before upcoming storms. 

“We’re trying to put our best foot forward with the county,” resident Mitchell Chupack said. “They’re making efforts to come up with ideas to help us. I’m hopeful that we’re going to get something done.”

More than a dozen neighbors met recently with personnel from the Santa Barbara County Flood Control District and First District County Supervisor Roy Lee to share their concerns.

Chupack said residents are worried that storms this winter could be a repeat of the 2021-22 winter storms, when the creek flooded over and damaged homes.

He’s particularly concerned about some of his elderly neighbors, and whether they would be able to evacuate in an emergency.

“I just don’t want to see anybody hurt,” Chupack said. “I don’t want to see any more property damage, if we can avoid it.”

Scientists are raising concerns that a “super” El Niño could lead to extreme weather conditions, including heavy rain, in the coming rainy season.

East-to-west prevailing winds near the equator usually push warm water in the Pacific Ocean from South America to Asia, but during an El Niño, the warm water moves toward North America and South America. 

Every time it rains, neighbors say, they can hardly sleep, fearing that they may need to evacuate in the middle of the night. Chupack even has outdoor cameras recording the creek, monitoring it to see if he or his neighbors need to flee their homes. 

Chupack said residents would like to see preventive creek clearing, removing any debris such as rocks and trees from the creek and under bridges so water can easily flow through. He’d also like to see a sandbag drop off on the street.

However, the county Flood Control District is limited in what it can do.

The agency has to get permits from state and federal environmental agencies to conduct any work on the creek, according to Seth Shank, environmental compliance manager with the district.

“We do have an annual maintenance plan where we do maintain these creeks every year,” Shank said. “We walk them in the spring and we identify the problem areas, and we start the work in August and we didn’t identify problem areas in this creek this year.”

Shank did encourage residents to call the district if any issues arise, such as major debris in the creek.

The district is working on a long-term project from the Montecito flood control master plan to address water flow.

Shank said they are in the early stages of a plan to shift the creek over, straighten it out and get rid of the turns, which will hopefully alleviate flooding issues. 

He added that the district is in the process of designing that project, but there is no implementation timeline yet. 

In the meantime, residents living near the creek are looking for ways to prepare for potential flooding before rainfall this fall and winter

Lee said his office would work on arranging a meeting with residents, the flood control district, and other agencies to address the issue. 

“We’ll work together to figure this out,” Lee told the group of Montecito residents on Friday.