Pictured is a drainage culvert on the east side of the Sespe River, at Old Telegraph Road, used to handle normal drainage. It was closed last week in anticipation of possible overflow from the Sespe River. The flap gate was installed on January 9th, 2023, by Ventura County Public Works. Aluminum slats were lowered into rails on the side of the culvert to create a barrier. The Sespe River has a riprap levee, a permanent layer of large, angular stone or boulders, mixed with cement, typically used to stabilize and protect the soil surface against erosion and scour in areas of concentrated flow. Stop logs are used for level control in open channels of the river. Logs are beams inserted in grooves cast in a channel wall; typically, nominal height of a stop log is in 6” increments, i.e., the log can be 6, 12, 18” in height, etc. Photo credit Angel Esquivel.