Net Installation to Begin

Earlier this week, the Partnership for Resilient Communities announced the international arrival of the first of six Swiss steel ring nets slated for the canyons above Cold Springs, Buena Vista, and San Ysidro Creeks. The first net will be installed in San Ysidro Creek above Randall Road and the San Ysidro Ranch; installation of the system will commence next week, according to TPRC executive director Pat McElroy. “This community initiated and privately funded mitigation plan will go a long way towards critical short-and-long term protections and reduce our risk of future storm related debris flow hazards,” McElroy wrote in a letter to over 250 donors, who collectively contributed $4.2 million for the project. 

It’s estimated that over the next month to 45 days, contractors and geotechnical engineers will be on site in the canyons installing the nets, and weather permitting, the nets will be installed by early May. The six nets will be anchored into the sides of the canyon and will sit three to five feet above the canyon; they allow fine soil, sediments, ash, mud, and water to keep moving, while capturing large wood material and boulders. When the nets fill, the boulders will spill over the center of the net, but with a lot less energy; a phenomenon McElroy has described as a braking system. The nets will more than double the current capacity of our debris basins in the three canyons, and will be required to be cleaned out when they are filled with debris following strong storms. 

“We are also pleased to report that pending additional fundraising, we will be allowed to install nets on the U.S. Forest Service property in Romero Canyon and upper Hot Springs Canyon,” McElroy went on to say. “This will further the debris flow protection system to cover all five canyons where debris flows occurred on 1/9.” 

“Over 250 donors, of large and small amounts, have contributed to this critical initiative. We have raised $4.2 million so far thanks to you, which allows us to begin installation. But we still need to raise an additional $1.1 million to complete this phase,” McElroy wrote. “While this journey has seemed long and arduous, our plan was permitted in record time, and with tremendous collaboration, talent, and innovative thinking from our private and government sectors, side by side with extraordinary philanthropic and community leadership, and is a marquee example of community coming together for the common good.”

An informal community celebration to mark the beginning of the net installation is slated for Monday, March 18, from 11:30 to 1 pm in the upper village green. 

For more information, and to donate, visit www.partnershipsb.org.