“After nearly 90,000 cubic yards of excavated material or 8,000 truckloads, the Randall Road basin project is now complete,” Walter Rubalcava, county Public Works Director for Water Resources and Flood Control, said Monday at a ribbon-cutting ceremony held for the project.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency partnered with Santa Barbara County to deliver $13.5 million as part of a Hazard Mitigation Program grant, Rubalcava said.
Rubalcava thanked Congressman Salud Carbajal for helping to secure funding for the Randall Road Debris Basin and working to secure a $4.5 million community development block grant.
The debris basin is completed five years after the giant 2017 Thomas fire, which created the conditions for the devastating Jan. 9, 2018, debris flows that took the lives of 23 people and injured dozens more.
“That’s why we’re here,” Carbajal said. “We’re here because we want to prevent that from happening again in our community. And we are here because a number of you here today took leadership.”
The debris basin opening also coincides with Flood Preparedness Week, which according to California Department of Water Management Branch Manager Solomon Miranda is to help state, federal and local partners talk about flood risk, and help inform the public about how to prepare for flooding.
“Even though California is entering the fourth year of an extreme drought, we must remember that flooding can happen at any time, even during drought years,” Miranda said. “As this community has experienced areas impacted by wildfires, it can be especially a risk of both flooding and debris flow.”
Vegetation fires lead to an increase risk of debris flows due to the loss of chaparral and other plants that cover the watershed. Without the vegetation to hold them and place, soil and rocks on the mountains and hillsides can quickly inundate areas below.
In addition, burned vegetation often leaves a waxy residue on the ground, rendering it hydrophobic, and preventing rainwater from soaking into the ground, accoding to Matthew Griffin, engineering manager for the county flood control district.
“If a raindrop hits it, it’s not going to sink into the dirt because of the wax residue,” Griffin said. “So all that water very quickly, and at a higher amount, accumulates very fast. It’s a combination of that water coming together very quickly, accumulating that loose rock, and then it just becomes a self-fulfilling train of destruction.”
To prepare for a debris flow, Griffin said, the best thing people can do is listen to emergency officials and be prepared to evacuate at a moment’s notice.
The Randall Road basin contains several “debris racks” that are fence-like structures placed throughout the basin, designed to catch boulders and other large debris during a flow, according to Floyd Holmes, flood control maintenance manager with Santa Barbara County Public Works.
When the water from the flood subsides, flood control maintenance can then come in and remove the debris caught in the debris racks.
“I don’t want to ever promise that disasters won’t happen — they will,” First District county Supervisor Das Williams said. “But through this work, we can meet and we can make sure that they are less likely to be as severe and less likely to have such a terrifying loss of life.”
Kathy Walderf, whose mother lived in one of the homes destroyed by the debris flows, said it was “heart pumping” to see the basin at the location where her parents’ home used to be.
“It’s good for the community, but it’s a chunk out of you a little bit,” Walderf said. “A little chunk.”