Advocate urges action on Erieau barrier beach erosion

ERIEAU – A local man fighting erosion of the barrier beach separating Rondeau Bay from Lake Erie hopes federal millions to protect neighboring Hillman Marsh will help money flow here.

Article content

“If you put it apples to apples, it’s the same,” Jeff Vidler, a member of the Erieau Community Association, said of the erosion issues facing Hillman Marsh and the Erieau barrier beach.

“We’re the same, it’s a marsh,” he added.

On Wednesday, the federal government announced $15 million over three tears to restore a crucial dike around Essex County’s Hillman Marsh, which is failing after being pounded by powerful waves from Lake Erie.

The money will flow to Caldwell First Nation, which will work with Leamington and the Essex Region Conservation Authority to complete technical specifications and construction work to shore up the dike.

The structure holds water back from thousands of acres of farmland and residential and commercial development. A conservation authority report this year showed a simulated berm breach that would leave large swaths of farmland and almost all of Point Pelee National Park underwater.

Article content

Vidler welcomes the effort to protect the Hillman Marsh, which he believes now puts the barrier beach in the spotlight.

He points to a section of the 2021 Chatham-Kent Lake Erie Shoreline Study, which says the barrier beach – a sandspit on the southern tip of Rondeau Provincial Park that nearly reaches Erieau across the entrance of the bay – urgently needs protection after being pounded for decades by powerful Lake Erie storms.

The shoreline study noted the barrier beach east of the navigation channel had receded 650 meters since 1868, while more than 160 hectares of coastal wetlands have disappeared in Rondeau Bay since 1955 due to this erosion.

Peter Zurek, president of Zurek Inc., which led the shoreline study, said after the study’s release that the barrier beach is effectively migrating to the large marsh area in the provincial park.

Article content

Vidler points to the valuable farmland and homes along Rondeau Bay that could be affected.

There is currently a break in the barrier beach, he said, and there have been others in the past, though they have filled in.

The number of toppled dead trees, once rooted in sand along the shore, is evidence of the barrier beach erosion, Vidler said.

The Chatham-Kent shoreline study also noted the erosion’s impact on the navigation channel between Lake Erie and Rondeau Bay.

Vidler, a past Erie Harbor Authority manager who helped some studies for the barrier beach portion of the shoreline study, said the west end of the barrier beach has been expanding continuously toward the commercial docks, making the channel between Lake Erie and Rondeau Bay shallower and narrower, affecting some boats.

Article content

He said the estimated 700-meter gap between the eastern pier and barrier beach, which once were connected, needs to be filled in with rocks to prevent sand from filling in the navigation channel.

The 2021 shoreline study estimated dealing with the threat to the barrier beach to cost $10 million to $15 million.

The community association wants to work with the federal and provincial governments on the issue, Vidler said. They have been in touch with area MP Dave Epp (C-Chatham-Kent-Leamington), but have not heard back from MPP Trevor Jones (PC-Chatham-Kent-Leamington).

The barrier beach may not erode away, Vidler admitted, but the community association is of the opinion: “Do we fix it now or do we fix it later – and at what cost?”

With files from Brian MacLeod, Postmedia

[email protected]

Article content