TPRC Ring Net Update

The Project for Resilient Communities (TPRC) and our contractors and permitting team have had a few very busy weeks. After a several months long process, we are within days of securing our final permit to begin clean out of the Debris Net filled in Upper San Ysidro Canyon. The Net was filled during the January storms of this year.

We have been unable to work in the canyons due to a U.S. Forest Service closure. The San Ysidro Trail was severely damaged during the winter storms and remains closed to the public. In addition, it was the preference of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), that debris restoration take place after the nesting bird season. And any work cleaning out the nets had to be approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) before any work could commence. 

Today we received the approval from RWQCB which then allows the Army Corps to finalize processing of our Nationwide Permit approval. We expect that final “go ahead” any day now. Our contracts have all been signed and our team is getting ready to stage equipment and begin work. We are confident that the cleanout of the Nets will be a success and will comply with the CDFW and Santa Barbara County approved plan.

We are also very proud to have been accepted by FEMA as an eligible Private Nonprofit for their Public Assistance Program thanks to the support of Congressman Salud Carbajal. 

We still are counting on your support. Please go to tprcsb.org to send an email of support to all the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors. We have made it a very easy two-click process. And please consider a donation to TPRC. Also an easy click on our website. Unlike 2018, we are facing opposition to the Nets remaining in place. Your voice makes a very big difference is our being successful in extending the permit life of the nets and in facilitating Santa Barbara County potentially assuming responsibility for them.

Thank you.

Pat McElroy, TPRC