After months of an ongoing shoreline study, Chatham-Kent residents are getting an extended look at some of the proposed solutions to shoreline hazards.
Peter Zuzek, a geoscientist with Zuzek Inc. who is heading the study, presented the draft options Tuesday afternoon at Links of Kent in Chatham -- sorted by geographical region from Wheatley to Clear Creek. He said many of the options focus on increasing resilience and have a design life of around 50 years.
Zuzek noted that Lake Erie reached record static highs during the summer of 2019 and said there are predictions of even higher levels in 2020. He added that future reduction in ice cover on the lake could increase shoreline erosion by 70 to 120 per cent by 2080.
Before presenting the multiple draft options, Zuzek made it clear that they will be costly. The cost ranges provided for the options are only estimated at this point and include engineering design, mobilization, materials and construction costs -- they do not factor in future maintenance.
"There are lots of ways to deal with challenges...but the price tags are enormous," he said.
The options look at high bluff areas, Erie Shore Drive and Erie Beach, flood-prone communities around Rondeau Bay, the Federal Navigation Channel and Rondeau barrier beach (see detailed breakdown below). Dozens of residents, who have been attentively following the study for months, lined up to hear what Zuzek and the team had come up with.
Several of the attendees were from Erie Shore Drive and had dealt with a state of emergency and evacuation orders in August on top of constant flood warnings.
Zuzek presented several adaptation options for Erie Shore Drive including a 3.34-kilometre stone revetment at the cost of $47 million to $70 million. Another option, costing $71 million to $94 million, was buying out the properties on the road and decommissioning Erie Shore Drive while still building the revetment in order to protect the dike. The final proposed option for Erie Shore Drive is buying out the properties, decommissioning the road and turning the farmland in the area to wetland habitat.
For some residents, the idea of decommissioning the road didn't sit well with them. Terra Cadeau has owned a cottage on Erie Shore Drive for 15 years, she said the final option seemed inconceivable.
"Obviously we've got 1,600 acres of prime farmland there so one of the options doesn't seem plausible at all," she said. "It's very good farmland, some of the best in the country. Turning that entire area back into wetland doesn't seem like a realistic option."
Just hours before the meeting took place, yet another flood warning was issued for Erie Shore Drive due to high winds in the forecast. When Cadeau described the challenges of having a residence along the roadway over the last few months, she called it a very trying and unpredictable time.
"In the August storm, my property was severely impacted," said Cadeau. "Not because my breakwall was destroyed but because my neighbour's was. Since then my neighbour on the other sides' wall has given away as well. We are in a serious situation where we are exposed on both sides."
Cadeau added that she appreciated the presentation but is anxious to hear more information and the finer details of the plan.
Zuzek emphasized that the ideas being presented do not represent any final decisions and are only in the draft stages. The options will be redefined and polished when the report gets finalized over the next couple of months.
When it comes to funding the projects, Zuzek said as it stands right now, the Municipality of Chatham-Kent currently had no funding to proceed with any of the draft options, adding there is no funding currently available from senior levels of government for private shoreline protection structures.
"At this point, none of these options have been funded....there's no funding for these ideas yet. We're at the planning level stage," Zuzek explained.
Ward 2 Councillor Mary Clare Latimer said funding is top of mind for many people in the impacted areas.
"[Residensts] are waiting to see what the best resolution is for all of us with the cost of doing something different versus the cost of doing the status quo," said Latimer. "I think from the presentation you can see to do the status quo is, in many cases, not an option."
No matter which options are chosen, it will be several years before they start getting implemented. Latimer noted that it will likely be the next term of CK council who will have to make a lot of the final decisions, recognizing that they will not be easy decisions to make.
"There are people that live there full time or people who just moved there. My heart breaks for them," said Latimer. "To sit with homeowners who are voicing these gut-wrenching fears and see the emotional toll on them, it's very hard."
The shoreline study presented Tuesday has been in the works for nearly a year and is being produced through Canada’s Climate Change Adaptation Platform, with support from Natural Resources Canada and a collaboration of groups including the municipality, the Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority (LTVCA), the provincial and federal governments, and the International Joint Commission.
Now that the research portion of the study is winding down, work will begin on finalizing the report and the options. The final report is set to be presented to council in March 2020.
"Then we have to advocate and lobby for whatever decision we come to as council for the community. We will be advocating for dollars from different levels of government," explained Latimer. "Then based on what we can access, we actually start the implementation."
Breakdown of proposed options
Talbot Trail
Protect Talbot Trail and the buildings with an armoured stone 40-kilometre revetment
• Cost: $600 to $900 million
• Pros: Long term protection
• Cons: Cost, getting approvals and will eliminate sediment to Erieau
Realign Talbot Trail inland with a combination of existing and new roads and relocate buildings inland
• Cost: $68 million to $108 million
• Pros: cheaper options
• Cons: disruption to local community
--
Rose beach line
Protect road and buildings with a new 2-kilometre armour stone revetment
• Cost $16.9 million to $25.4 million
• Pros: Road and property protected
• Cons: Costs and reduction in sediment supply
Decommission Rose Beach Line and upgrade new Scotland Line- Mckinlay and Antrim Road get upgraded for access to New Scotland Line and Hill Road. New roads along the west property boundaries to link residential areas to Mckinlay and Antrim Road
• Cost $10 million to $13 million
•Pros: Cheaper option
•Cons: Disruption of access for local communities
--
Erie Shore Drive
Build 3.34--kilometre stone revetment
• Cost $47 million to $70 million
• Pros: Protect road and property
• Cons: Cost
Buy out Erie Shore Drive properties, decommission the road and build the stone revetment to protect the dyke
• Cost: $71 million to $94 million
• Pros: Reduce coastal hazards
• Cons: Requires land acquisition
Buy out properties on Erie Shore Drive, decommission the road and turn farmland into wetlands
• Cost: $67 million to $88 million
• Pros: Reduces the threat to human safety and creates new wetlands habitat
• Cons: Requires significant land acquisition
--
Erieau
Construct a secondary ingress/egress route for Erieau
• Cost: Not provided
• Pros: Second ingress/egress route if the agricultural dykes breach
• Cons: Cost
Build 425-metre revetment for Erieau Road and raise the road
•Cost: $4.1 million to $5.9 million
• Pros: Only access route protected for the long term
• Cons: Cost
Raise the fuel dock elevation
• Cost: Not provided
• pros: Resilience to fluctuating lake levels, no pollution risk
• Cons: none
--
Federal Navigation Channel and Rondeau barrier beach
Connect East Jetty to the barrier beach and nourish with hydraulic dredging
• Cost: $2.8 million to $3.5 million
• Pros: Protect fishing fleet, fuel dock and marina. Creates a new recreational beach and habitat
• Cons: None
--
Stabilize the barrier beach and nourish with hydraulic dredging
• Cost: $6 million to $8.9 million
•Pros: Restores eroded barrier beach, new recreational beach and boating destination, habitat for endangered species and protects Rondeau Bay communities
--
Wheatley area
Long term planning study for Wheatley Provincial Park and area to provide solutions
• Cost: Not provided
• Pros: Not provided
• Cons: Not provided