Owl among rocky soil
With funding from the Wetlands and Watershed Restoration, the North Campus Open Space (NCOS) project is restoring 54 acres of diverse coastal wetlands and upland habitat of native plants and grassland in Santa Barbara County. This restoration will increase Santa Barbara County’s coastal wetlands by 11 percent, which in turn will help adapt the coastal community to sea level rise by protecting inland infrastructure.
California’s coastal wetlands play a critically important role in protecting the coast from sea level rise, but the majority of wetlands along the coast of central and southern California have been filled and developed as residential or industrial areas. As a result, the coastlines are vulnerable to the impacts of a changing climate.
The NCOS project will provide a suite of benefits to the restored land and its native species, the community, and California at large. The project will sequester carbon in saltmarsh and native perennial grasslands; provide adaptation to six feet of sea level rise; and enhance resiliency by lowering flood elevations by two feet. It will also provide transgression space for saltmarsh habitat and expand the coastal wetland’s capacity to filter and process environmental pollutants. These habitats will provide sanctuary for threatened and endangered species, including species such as the tidewater goby, western snowy plover, and Ventura marsh milk vetch.
Residents of nearby communities will also have public access to the NCOS project site. Two and a half miles of trails, interpretive signage, educational videos, guided tours and talks, and wildlife viewing will provide recreational opportunities, and the area will help support ecological restoration as well as education programs of nearby university and K-12 programs.
