From: Maitland Valley Conservation Authority
The Maitland Valley Conservation Authority is continuing their work on how to improve coastline resilience.
Patrick Huber-Kidby, Supervisor of Planning and Regulations at the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority says that the organization has been receiving community feedback from residents, businesses, and stakeholders.
They’ve also been holding working groups to help come with solutions to the issue.
“We have been able to set up a dedicated webpage for Lake Huron… we put all of our updates there, all our material from presentations. We’ve got a lot of traction there, as well as through Facebook posts. It’s been really important to have engagement that way also.”
During his presentation to council, Huber-Kidby shared an estimate of all of the property and infrastructure that is at risk if shoreline erosion can’t be addressed, which is estimated to be at least $724,000,000.
“Three-quarters of a billion dollars. That’s everything like homes, property, roads… Everything that’s going to need to be dealt with at some point down the road.”
Based on feedback, the MVCA found that the community’s priorities are to maintain healthy and accessible beaches, protect nearshore water quality for swimming and drinking, preserve coastal ecosystems and restoring lost habitat, and reducing the exposure to flooding and erosion hazards.
Huber-Kidby also shared that with a $70,000 cost spread between 2024 to 2027, it allows the MVCA to apply for a -$600,000 project through NRCan to pilot real work that aids the Town in multiple ways and becomes work that can benefit the entire Great Lakes Region.