P.E.I. government needs to make 'tough decisions' with new shoreline policy, says expert
CBC
The province needs to create a shoreline management plan that looks at how climate change will impact P.E.I.'s shores over the next 100 years, says one coastal engineer who has worked on shoreline projects around the Island.
P.E.I.'s environment minister announced Thursday that the province is placing a moratorium on new development in the Island's shoreline buffer zones until a policy to protect them can be drafted and brought to the legislature.
That policy needs to examine how the shorelines will change over time, said Michael Davies, president of Coldwater Consulting in Ottawa.
"All of it has to look at, what do we want the Island's shores to look like in 50 years, in 100 years? How does climate change affect that?" said Davies.
The shoreline is constantly evolving, he said.
"We need to have a picture that says, 'this is how this shoreline is going to change over time. This is the type of development that would work here,'" Davies said.
"There may be zones where we'll say, 'these properties are probably going to wash into the sea and they'll have to be abandoned.' And those are tough decisions to make."
Davies has worked on numerous shoreline projects on P.E.I., including building artificial reefs at West Point and in Souris.
His company was also involved in the high-profile development at Point Deroche on Prince Edward Island's North Shore, east of Blooming Point.
That property includes a huge rock wall that juts out into the ocean and blocks the way of people strolling along the beach.
Coldwater Consulting gave advice to the property owners on how to protect the existing site, which already included a rock wall, said Davies, including moving the house further from the shore.
The province's moratorium and the development of a new policy is a chance for the province to take a good look at shoreline protection in general, said Davies.
"The quick and easy answer is to dump rock on the shore. And that doesn't protect shorelines, that protects lawns," he said.
But he acknowledged the pressure the province is under from homeowners.
