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A crucial dyke around the Hillman Marsh that is pounded by powerful waves from Lake Erie will undergo a $15 million restoration, the federal Liberal government announced this week.
The money is being provided over three years to the Caldwell First Nation, which will work with the Municipality of Leamington and the Essex Region Conservation Authority to complete the technical specifications, and the construction work required to shore up the southern dyke.
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The structure holds back water that sits about three metres above thousands of acres of farmland and residential and commercial development, but the 100-year-old berm is beginning to fail, in part because a strip of land that helped shield the marsh from Lake Erie has now disappeared, essentially leaving Hillman Marsh and Lake Erie as the same body of water.
Hillman Marsh is classified as an environmentally significant area, a provincially significant wetland, and an area of natural and scientific interest containing several species at risk.
A report prepared by ERCA earlier this year shows a simulated berm breach that would leave large swaths of farmland and almost all of Point Pelee National Park underwater.
The $15 million was announced at a press conference on the berm Wednesday, attended by members of Caldwell First Nation, including Chief Mary Duckworth, Leamington Mayor Hilda MacDonald, ERCA head Tim Byrne, Irek Kusmierczyk (L – Windsor-Tecumseh) and International Development Minister Ahmed Hussen on behalf of Sean Fraser, minister of housing, infrastructure and communities.
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“The structure you stand on right now is unstable,” said Byrne. “It is inadequate to sustain itself against the wave energy that’s coming at us from Lake Erie, specifically through northeast storms.
“It’s a critical point that needs to be constructed to protect thousands of acres of farmland and people who live in this area and have lived in this area for over 100 years.”
Should water wash over the berm, or if it failed, about 3,440 hectares of land could be flooded.
“We have no choice but to take on adaptation and mitigation measures because it’s not only the right thing to do for the community, it is the smart thing to do economically,” said Hussen. “Every dollar that we invest in preparing for climate related disasters that are becoming more frequent … can save us as much as $13 to $15 in spending later to deal with the impact if we don’t take action.”
Kusmierczyk said the area knows the effects flooding can have on a community.
“We are a community that has known devastating floods in 2016 and 2017,” he said. The federal government has provided more than $110 million in the last three years to address flood mitigation in the Windsor-Essex area, he said.
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Duckworth said the application for funds worked in part because of a partnership between Caldwell First Nation, Leamington and ERCA. “We are full partners in this. We are walking together to do the best job that we can,” she said.
MacDonald said land formations around Hillman Marsh have been failing for some time, and a 2006 plan to address the issue at a cost of $80 million, which would have seen part of the land on the other side of the dyke restored to marshland, wasn’t popular with residents and farmers, so the proposal went nowhere.
The dyke restoration “is not the Cadillac where we’re buying up farms and moving people out,” she said. “This is to keep it sustainable so that the people can continue to live here.”
Byrne said more needs to be done to ensure the future of Hillman Marsh. “This is only one side of the bathtub,” he said. “There is an urgent need still from higher levels of government to assist the municipality with additional funds to fully incorporate protection systems here.”
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Earlier this year, ERCA also approved a plan to restore the land bridge separating the Marsh from Lake Erie for $10 million. The plan proposes construction of a new barrier farther inland that can withstand the encroachment of Lake Erie.
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