EDC’s Work on Mission Creek

Concrete flood channels

EDC is working to bring endangered steelhead back to downtown Santa Barbara’s Mission Creek.  For over 50 years,near Highway 101 have prevented the steelhead’s winter migration from the Pacific to spawning grounds in Mission and Rattlesnake Canyons.  In the past decade, steelhead (click for video) were spotted in Mission Creek almost each year but their migration to spawning grounds was thwarted by the flood channels. EDC conceived a plan to retrofit the mile-long concrete barriers so steelhead could once again make the annual journey to their spawning grounds. The unprecedented effort will help recover this rare species while educating and exciting people who experience the wondrous spectacle of steelhead in our local creeks.  Click here to see video of steelhead in Mission Creek.

The City of Santa Barbara and EDC received several grants and design work is currently underway. We plan to restore steelhead passage in Mission Creek in the next few years so that everyone can experience the awesome sight of silver and rainbow-colored steelhead racing upstream and spawning.

 

Engineers working for EDC and Santa Barbara City successfully modeled the Mission Creek Steelhead Recovery Project. The report can be viewed here: Mission Creek Modeling Report	Government agencies tour Mission Creek’s CalTrans Channel with EDC. 2003. Photo by David Pritchett.
Steelhead still swim up Mission Creek many years but are thwarted by the concrete flood control channels. January 20, 2005. Photo by Mark Capelli, NOAA.	View recent footage of steelhead spawning in Mission Creek, click here: Big Spawners in Mission Creek. January 19, 2005. Video by David Pritchett.

Click on Engineering Report to read the final engineering report for the Mission Creek Steelhead Recovery Project.

Click on Mission Creek Proposal to learn more about EDC’s efforts to restore Mission Creek for steelhead.

Click on Mission Creek Project News to read more about the Mission Creek Steelhead Recovery project.