Laguna Flood Resilience Study
The Laguna Creek Watershed covers about 1,800 acres in the heart of Santa Barbara, including much of Downtown, the Lower Eastside, and the Riviera. Before the 1900s, it drained into a large estuary, El Estero, which was filled and paved over for development (depicted below). Laguna Creek, a tide gate, and pump station were built in its place to carry stormwater to the ocean. As the City kept growing, more of the natural drainage system was paved over throughout the watershed, sending more storm water downhill instead of letting it soak into the ground.
The current storm drain system and Laguna Creek are limited in their ability to move storm water into the ocean because the area is flat and Laguna Creek is narrow, partially below sea level, and its outlet can be blocked by a seasonal sand berm. As a result, the low-lying area where El Estero previously existed floods regularly, affecting neighborhoods, businesses, and critical infrastructure. Rising sea levels and more intense storms are expected to make this worse over time.
Recent City plans (2021 Sea Level Rise Action Plan, 2026 Wastewater and Water Systems Climate Adaptation Plan, 2023 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan, and 2025 Capital Improvement Program) have all identified flooding in this watershed as a top vulnerability requiring new analysis and solutions.
