Nova Scotia urged to develop unified coastal erosion plan

On four small sections of Nova Scotia's coast, ecology advocates and volunteers have planted morning glory flowers, moved sand and hauled hay bales to showthere are natural alternatives to protecting shores from erosion and rising sea levels.

They're playing the long game, as it will take years to produce measurable data, but the Ecology Action Centre (EAC) hopes these demonstration sites near SaintMary's Boat Club in Halifax, Brule, Malagash and on Caribou Island will prove "living shorelines" work.

"We're already seeing a lot of anecdotal evidence that it's really working, that the ecosystem is becoming more diverse or strong and that erosion is not happening the same way that it was before," said Robin Tress, EAC'scoastal adaptation coordinator.

These efforts are motivated by what advocates say is missing in Nova Scotia's environmental policy a unified plan to protect one of the region's most valuable assets: its coastline.

A coastal strategy that could have been

"We're one of only two coastal jurisdictions in North America that doesn't have any form of coastal plan whatsoever. The other is Alaska," said Tress.

"I think that it is a bit outrageous that we don't have anything protecting the one thing that drives our province's economy and identity."

In 2011, the then-NDP government drafted aunified coastal strategy, but itfell by the wayside in the months leading up to the 2013 election.

"It would have given a framework through which we can evaluate how we use our coasts and something to give direction to the various government bodies that regulate the different parts of the coast," Tress said.

Fisheries laws and the Beaches Act havea smattering of coastal regulations, but the province says it's currently developing the coastal data management initiative that will catalog thedata provincial departments have.

"Through this initiative, we will improve the province's access to important coastal data and be better informed about the social, environmental and economic opportunities and challenges on Nova Scotia's coastline," the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) said in a statement to CBC.

Re-evaluating common fixes

Erosion is tough to quantify and can vary from place to place.The Nova Scotia Climate Change Action Plan, published in 2009, says it's happening and is a concern. Most of Nova Scotia's population lives along the coast.

A 2012 reportcalled "A Coastal Hazard Assessment of the Gabarus Seawall," a study of a beach near Gabarus Harbour, Cape Breton that's partially protected by a seawallsays part of the beach is retreating 30 to50 centimetresa year.

• Cape Breton's Gabarus lighthouse saved from the sea

• Gabarus seawall repairs almost complete

The report calls for continued maintenance of the 70-year-old seawall.

However,seawalls are a common fix that may actually be doing more harm than good.Tress says research showsthey just postponethe problem. If a seawall deflects wave energy in one spot, erosion is simply redistributed elsewhere along the shore.

Living shorelines are an alternative to building seawalls, or hard armouring as it's sometimes known.

'Nurture those ecosystems'

Caitlin Doucette, designer and community engagement manager for Helping Nature Heal, an ecological landscaping companyin Bridgewater, says thecompany has been contracted by private clients to build living shorelines because they too are looking for new solutions.

Meanwhile, the province says it's focused on flood management by engaging municipalities through programs such as the municipal climate change action planning process.

"Since 2013, the province has invested approximately $9 million toward community flood assessments and flood risk studies, flood mitigation infrastructure, and dyke improvements, maintenance and repair," DNR said.

It's been nearly eightmonths since the Halifax living shoreline was built. In that time, the morning glories have grown, new root systems have reinforced the soil, and erosion is being managed slowly.

"The purpose of these sites is to show that we can manage erosion and manage our coastal property using the ecological principles," Tress said.

"We just want to nurture those ecosystems."