Montecito Canyons May Get Ring Nets

In a move to prevent loose boulders and debris from crashing into creek-side neighborhoods during the next big rainstorm, the nonprofit Partnership for Resilient Communities is planning to install steel ring nets across canyons above Montecito. The estimated $5.4 million project, which still needs to be funded, would theoretically double the capacity of existing debris basins to capture boulders and uprooted trees along Cold Spring, Montecito, San Ysidro, and Romero creeks.