Santa Barbara issues decades-long plan for protecting and adapting local water infrastructure

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – On Monday, the City of Santa Barbara released its draft long-term, climate adaptation plans for water and wastewater systems, the first of its kind in the state.

The Draft Wastewater and Water Systems Climate Adaptation Plan identifies the highest priority risks to the city's infrastructure from impacts connected to a changing local climate including: flooding, erosion, sea level rise, and wildfires.

"Flooding and erosion during storms already affect the City’s wastewater and water infrastructure," explained the City of Santa Barbara. "The severity of these impacts is anticipated to accelerate significantly in the coming decades due to climate changes, including rising sea levels and heavier rainfall during storms. The City developed the Wastewater and Water Systems Climate Adaptation Plan to evaluate the current and future impacts on the City's water and wastewater systems and outline a phased approach for adapting these systems over time."

In particular, the City identified low-lying areas from the Waterfront to just north of Highway 101 as locations that will face increased flooding in the coming years.

Access roads to the El Estero Water Resource Center already experience flooding during heavy rainfall and those issues are expected to get worse due to both increased rainfall totals as well as sea level rise.

"The City often gets asked whether we will have to move El Estero in the long term and where it would go," said the City of Santa Barbara's Water Resources Director Joshua Haggmark. "While this decision is not anticipated until the latter part of the 21st century, the City will eventually need to decide whether to protect the plant in place or relocate it."

The City of Santa Barbara offered that a city-owned property on parts of the municipal golf course could be considered as a new location for a relocated wastewater treatment plant, but the area is already dealing with similar issues adapting to the changing local climate.

Expected rises in sea levels in the coming decades, especially more intrusive coastal storm surges, could introduce saltwater into the wastewater collection system.

That saltwater threatens the bacteria that the sewer treatment system relies on to break down its contents noted the City of Santa Barbara.

The extent of those expected increases in sea level on existing infrastructure is detailed in the graph below, courtesy of the City of Santa Barbara.

Over the next 20 years, the draft identified the following high priority solutions to the problems identified in the plan.

• Upgrades to the Wastewater System: Sealing sewer manholes, rehabilitate sewer lines at risk of flooding, and increase storage to handle increasing flooding and saltwater infiltration. The City also plans to pressurize sewer systems in low-lying areas over a 20 to 50 year period to replace the existing gravity-fed process.
• Updated Protections for the El Estero Water Resource Center: Add flood protection tools such as flood walls and elevated infrastructure as well as establish formal protocols to continue operations during flooding.
• Protect or Relocate Coastal Infrastructure: Due to shoreline erosion, nearby City infrastructure will require additional protections or even relocation including utilities under Cabrillo Boulevard and parts of the Charles E. Meyer Desalination Plant intake infrastructure.
• Develop Comprehensive Stormwater System: Using flood models for various rainfall intensities, the City plans to improve strategies to expand the capacity of stormwater systems to channel water to local waterways and ultimately the Pacific Ocean to limit flooding.

The images below show the identified issues for the Waterfront area (highlighted in orange) and solutions (highlighted in blue)

According to the draft, the plan would need to be updated every decade to keep pace with climate changes, rely on $2 to $3 million for studies and design plans as well as an estimated $50 to $130 million in infrastructure modifications over the next 20 years.

An executive summary of the draft was submitted to the City Council on Dec. 9 and the public comment on the plan ends on Feb. 10, 2026.

Following the Water Commission's comments on the plan, the final plan will be presented to the City Council for approval and adoption in May of next year.

The image below shows the approval process for the plan, courtesy of the City of Santa Barbara.