Former Santa Barbara County flood control manager honored for his work to save lives and property in storms

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Former Santa Barbara County Flood Control Manager Jim Stubchaer has been honored with a special plaque along Mission Creek.

He retired in 1989 and was instrumental in many projects that saves lives and property. The lower section has had millions of dollars in improvements to reduce flooding during major storms.

The new honor for Stubchaer has been installed along the banks of the creek by State Street.

Stubchaer is now in his 90's and spoke about the past. He thanked those who worked alongside him on the most difficult projects and gave the most recent staff compliments for the work they have done to finish off many projects countywide.

He said the recent rain in January that filled Cachuma Lake and activated a spill in the Santa Ynez River towards Solvang, Buellton and Lompoc was impressive, but not the largest he has found in his research. At least one was about three times the water flow.

Stubchaer began his career with the county in 1962 as a civil engineer. He retired in 1989.

Early on in his career he sought information about past storms and their intensities to understand the potential damage. "We asked people to submit their stories and a lot of stories came in on the 1914 flood on Mission creek.and that documented that there was a problem even though people hadn't seen it for  awhile," said Stubchaer. From that and other information, upgrades were designed and funded.

It took time and persistence. "We asked the Corps of Engineers to study the Mission Creek project in 1964 and here it is 2022 the lower portion was completed," he said.

Another retiree Tom Fayram said, "a project like this, lower Mission Creek. A project that you said once upon a time would never be built but it is that intensity that you carried forward."

Chairman of the Santa Barbara Board of Supervisors Das Williams said the project was designed to not look like a creek as most people would think and fit in nicely with the housing and waterfront areas where it went through. "If you look back there it doesn't look like a industrial facility anymore and is because of the work of the people you trained that continued after your time," he said.

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