A coastal engineer from W. F. Baird and Associates made a presentation to the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority Board about shoreline protection this week.
Fiona Duckett spoke specifically about the different structures that are commonly used to protect shorelines and the effectiveness as well as the consequences of each type of structure. Duckett points out the forces that threaten the Lake Huron Shoreline don't go away, most structures simply re-direct them somewhere else, so the consequences have to be considered before structures are put in place. Duckett adds those structures have a design life because of the forces that are at work around them. She says protecting erosion on one property could increase it on a neighbouring property.
She also points out that sediment from some properties are the source of sand for beaches down drift of those properties and so preventing that movement of sediment robs those beaches of sand. Duckett says in the end Mother Nature always wins. A video of her presentation to the ABCA Board will be available on the ABCA web site within the next week or so.
Duckett says another serious problem is that people have been allowed to build on flood plains. She says that might work without any problems for a while, but when water levels rise, those building become flooded. She adds that's what's happening now on Toronto Island and in the Gatineau area near Ottawa.