In the Santa Ynez River, access to the river can be affected by the sand bar which forms
at the river’s mouth in most years, or by shallow riffles in more upstream areas. Like
most southern California coastal rivers, the mouth of the Santa Ynez River can be closed
off each year by the formation of a sandbar across its mouth. The sandbar is formed by
long-shore drift of sand created by the California current, and by wave and tidal action.
During some portions of the year, the bar may be breached when flow from the river fills
the lagoon, overtopping the barrier causing it to breach. These flows do not occur in all
years, however. Upstream passage barriers may consist of a variety of physical features
that may partially or completely block passage for adult steelhead. These barriers might
consist of drops or falls which are too high for fish to leap, of areas where the flow is too
shallow to allow fish to swim past. This report focuses on the relationship of mainstem
flow and passage opportunities in the Santa Ynez River from the upper portion of the
lagoon to Bradbury Dam.