Santa Barbara Urban Creeks Collective

Goleta Watersheds Library

As a resource to Goleta community members who want to learn about the history and ecology of their local watersheds and how they can help protect them, we are putting together this online library of government documents, scientific literature, and other materials that may be of use. This webpage will be continuously updated as we find more resources to include.

As a disclaimer, SBUCC does not own most of these documents; we have simply gathered the links all in one place to make them easier to find. The inclusion (or not) of a document here does not imply a position taken by SBUCC on any issue. Please cite all sources responsibly and let us know if there is another resource we should add here!

City of Goleta CEQA Review Archive

Here you can find all CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) review documents, including Environmental Impact Reports (EIRs) and Mitigated Negative Declarations (MNDs) for projects in the City of Goleta since 2007. For more information about the CEQA process and how to read CEQA documents, please see this resource from the State of CA.

City of Goleta Creek and Watershed Management Program (CWMP)

This detailed report describes the history, features, and impairments of Goleta's watersheds and outlines strategies and best practices for conservation and use.

City of Goleta General Plan

All Cities in California are required to have a General Plan, which is a long-term planning document that outlines the community's vision for the city and guides future growth and development accordingly. Goleta first adopted theirs in 2006. Here you can find the most updated versions of Goleta's General Plan elements, as well as other documents related to the adoption and amendment of the General Plan.

Community & Area Plans in the Goleta Area

Some of the watersheds in the Goleta area fall partially within County jurisdiction (outside city limits). The following Community & Area Plans focus on specific "Community Planning Areas" in the unincorporated County near Goleta, and function like mini General Plans for those areas.

Goleta Valley Planning Area: Covers most of the unincorporated land directly surrounding Goleta, including the foothills above the city, some wetland areas near the slough, and what is popularly called "Noleta."
Gaviota Coast Plan: Covers the mostly rural and undeveloped Gaviota coast, located between Goleta and Vandenberg Space Force Base.
Isla Vista: Various County documents cover the unincorporated community of Isla Vista, located adjacent to UCSB. An Isla Vista Master Plan was considered in 2016 but not adopted; the draft can be found here along with other County planning documents that currently apply to the area.

Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPPs) in the Goleta Area

Community Wildfire Protection Plans are locally specific plans for understanding and managing wildfire risk in the wildland-urban interface (WUI). The following CWPPs are relevant to watersheds in and around Goleta:

Gaviota Coast CWPP (covers the Gaviota Coast, located between Goleta and Vandenberg SFB)
San Marcos Pass- Eastern Goleta Valley Mountainous Communities CWPP (covers an unincorporated area in the hills above Goleta, including the headwaters of some Goleta Slough creeks)
City of Goleta CWPP (covers the incorporated City of Goleta)

Goleta Slough Area Sea Level Rise and Management Plan

This plan is the product of the Goleta Slough Management Committee (GSMC), a collaboration between the Santa Barbara Airport, UCSB, and various environmental agencies working together to steward the Goleta Slough and plan for its future sustainability and resilience in the face of sea level rise and other environmental changes.

Santa Barbara County Comprehensive Plan

This serves the same purpose as the City of Goleta's General Plan, but for the whole county.

UCSB Long Range Development Plan

This long-term planning document was enacted in 2010 and designed to project out to 2025. It covers UCSB's vision for growth and development in multiple areas, including physical changes to the campus (e.g. housing, roads, sustainable building initiatives).

Other literature that may be relevant to the Goleta area or the types of ecosystems found in its watersheds
SBUCC's original Coastal Resource Information Center Archive contained multiple file boxes of scientific papers, newspaper clippings, and other documents that we had saved over the years due to their relevance to Goleta's watersheds and ecosystems. In order to turn this archive into a more accessible public resource, we are now digitally filing many of these documents. Resources for which a public-access online version already exists will be linked and cited below as we find them. In order to follow copyright laws and respect the etiquette for documents we didn't write ourselves, we are only posting links to resources that are already publicly available online from their owners. If you need help finding specific information about Goleta's watersheds or are looking for a resource that is not posted here, please contact us or visit us at the Coastal Resource Information Center. We can look through our own archives and/or connect you with other agencies who have what you are looking for. The Goleta Valley Library and UCSB Library are also great resources for this type of information.
*Disclaimer: SBUCC does not own these documents except for any where explicitly stated, and therefore cannot guarantee their accuracy. Some of the links here are to news articles or other non peer-reviewed sources, and any opinions stated in them may not necessarily reflect the opinions of SBUCC.

Beyers, J.L. & Wakeman, C.D. (1997). Season of Burn Effects in Southern California Chaparral. [Paper presented at conference]. 2nd Interface Between Ecology and Land Development in California. 1997, April 18-19. Los Angeles, CA, USA
Brennen, T.J., and Keeley, J.E., 2015, Southwest U.S. Mechanically Treated Chaparral Photo Series: U.S. Geological Survey Data Release, http://dx.doi.org/10.5066/F7D798F9.
Corbett, E.S. & Crouse, R.P. (1968). Rainfall Interception by Annual Grass and Chaparral: losses compared. USDA Forest Service Research Paper PSW-48
Davis, F.W., Keller, E.A., Parikh, A., & Florsheim, J. (1989). Recovery of the Chaparral Riparian Zone After Wildfire. USDA Forest Service General Technical Reports, PSW-110.
Federal Interagency Stream Restoration Working Group. (1998). Stream Corridor Restoration Principles, Processes, and Practices.
Loaiciga, H.A., Pedreros, D. & Roberts, D. (2001). Wildfire-streamflow interactions in a chaparral watershed. Advances in Environmental Research, 5(2001), 295-305. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1093-0191(00)00064-2
Muller, R. (2008). The Chaparral Is Not Our Enemy: It's Just Very Misunderstood, Leading to Disastrous Fires. [Opinion article]. Santa Barbara Independent.
Newman, E. (2016, January 27). Fuel management effects on wild birds in California chaparral: How mastication is changing bird communities and may be increasing Lyme Disease incidence. [Conference presentation]. California Fire Sciences Consortium Webinar.
Opperman, J., Merenlender, A., & Lewis, D. (2006). Maintaining Wood in Streams: A Vital Action for Fish Conservation. University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Publication 8157.
Siegel, K., Vespa, M., & Nowicki, B. (2007). The California Environmental Quality Act: On the Front Lines of California’s Fight Against Global Warming. Center for Biological Diversity.
State of California Department of Transportation (2018). Water Quality Assessment Report: San Jose Creek Bridge Replacement Project.
Williamson, T.N., Graham, R.C., & Shouse, P.J. (2002). Effects of a chaparral-to-grass conversion on soil physical and hydrologic properties after four decades. Geoderma 123, 2004. 99 – 114.

Goleta Watersheds Library

This detailed report describes the history, features, and impairments of Goleta's watersheds and outlines strategies and best practices for conservation and use.​​

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Community & Area Plans in the Goleta Area

Some of the watersheds in the Goleta area fall partially within County jurisdiction (outside city limits). The following Community & Area Plans focus on specific "Community Planning Areas" in the unincorporated County near Goleta, and function like mini General Plans for those areas.

Gaviota Coast Plan: Covers the mostly rural and undeveloped Gaviota coast, located between Goleta and Vandenberg Space Force Base.

Isla Vista: Various County documents cover the unincorporated community of Isla Vista, located adjacent to UCSB. An Isla Vista Master Plan was considered in 2016 but not adopted; the draft can be found here along with other County planning documents that currently apply to the area.

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Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPPs) in the Goleta Area

Community Wildfire Protection Plans are locally specific plans for understanding and managing wildfire risk in the wildland-urban interface (WUI). The following CWPPs are relevant to watersheds in and around Goleta:

San Marcos Pass- Eastern Goleta Valley Mountainous Communities CWPP (covers an unincorporated area in the hills above Goleta, including the headwaters of some Goleta Slough creeks)

City of Goleta CWPP (covers the incorporated City of Goleta)

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This serves the same purpose as the City of Goleta's General Plan, but for the whole county.

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This long-term planning document was enacted in 2010 and designed to project out to 2025. It covers UCSB's vision for growth and development in multiple areas, including physical changes to the campus (e.g. housing, roads, sustainable building initiatives).

This detailed report describes the history, features, and impairments of Goleta's watersheds and outlines strategies and best practices for conservation and use.