Norfolk gets update on shoreline protection work

Luke Edwards

Advocate Correspondent

Work is ongoing to better understand, and ultimately mitigate, erosion along a section of Lake Erie’s north shore that includes parts of Norfolk County.

Councillors will also be considering continuing support of the project, which includes work along the shorelines of several neighbouring communities. At the Nov. 13 council-in-committee meeting Sarah Emons, a conservation director at the Long Point Biosphere Region, provided councillors with an update the North Shore Resilience project that’s ongoing.

Planned to take place over two years with the opportunity to extend, the project includes three main goals. The first is to collect technical and scientific understanding of the littoral cell that runs from roughly Port Glasgow to Long Point. Littoral cells refer to sections of shoreline where sediment transportation happens. Locally, Emons described a situation where sediment is transported out to the end of Long Point and deposited there.

She said the technical and scientific research portion is well underway.

“That will be complete in the next two years, probably within the first year really,” she said.

The second goal is dune restoration. Emons said they’re also made progress on this goal, working with private landowners as well as municipalities like Norfolk County to restore the area with natural erosion protection like beach grass plantings. Emons said county staff have been supporting the project, and added strategically placed grasses can be a benefit to the municipality in the long run.

“We feel we can greatly reduce the amount of maintenance that you have to do on those municipal accessways,” she said, adding private landowners can also benefit from less maintenance.

The third part of the project is to develop a Coastal Resilience Action Plan. Work here is just beginning, Emons said, with recruitment for a public advisory committee and technical advisory committee getting underway. She also said community workshops are planned for the winter to get more of the public’s feedback on a Coastal Resilience Action Plan.

Coun. Tom Masschaele said he’d be happy to continue on his involvement with the project group, and also put forward a motion to have staff develop a report to look at the financial and staffing implications of continuing to support the project. His motion was approved and consideration will be given during future budget deliberations.