With a projected price tag of around $1 billion to mitigate flooding and erosion in Chatham-Kent, the municipality is looking at other solutions to lessen the financial burden.
During Monday night's council meeting, General Manager of Infrastructure and Engineering Services Thomas Kelly gave a detailed report on flooding and erosion-prone areas across Chatham-Kent including the Sydenham River, Mitchell's Bay, the Thames River, and the Lake Erie shoreline. The report looked at some of the challenges in these areas and how the municipality is addressing them.
To date, there have been 47 flood watches or warnings issued in Chatham-Kent in 2019. Kelly said one of the challenges is that there is no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to fixing the problem.
Additionally, several roadways across the municipality have been closed as a result of erosion concerns. Kelly said closing a road is an extremely difficult decision to make but safety is the top priority.
One of the roads that have been closed indefinitely is Rose Beach Line, which was closed in January 2019. Repair for the area is estimated at around $20 million.
"This is the big challenge to council. Once we start down this path there's no turning back," said Kelly. "You're going to see in each area some pretty big numbers. [Rose Beach Line] is $20 million, Erie Shore Drive is going to be even greater than that. Then all along the west side, it's a staggering number. All in total we're looking at, for Chatham-Kent, over a billion dollars in investments that's required. Are solutions possible? Yes, they are. The cost is the big question mark."
Another road that had to be closed in Chatham-Kent is a section of Talbot Trail. In July, a section of the roadway from Coatsworth Road to Stevenson Road was shut down “until further notice.” Kelly explained how there is significant bluff erosion happening in that area and that administration is currently looking at short term solutions. However, he said any long term solutions are going to come with a hefty cost.
"This is a level of investment that, I mentioned before, is very concerning. Just a high-level estimate was for that 32-kilometre area, if we were to repair that, that would be $640 million total investment upfront and then every year thereafter, we would have to maintain it at $12 million per year," Kelly explained. "I can tell you we have nothing planned for that in our asset management at this time."
So far, the only external funding for the issue of erosion and flooding that Chatham-Kent has received has been from the federal government's Disaster Mitigation Adaptation Funding (DMAF) grant, which goes towards supporting large scale infrastructure projects to help communities better manage the risks of disasters triggered by natural hazards.
In March, it was announced that Chatham-Kent was awarded $16.6 million over the next 10 years from the federal government for DMAF. As part of the agreement to receive the funding, the municipality will have to provide $24.8 million during that timeframe as well, an agreement that council approved on Monday night.
The Thames River and Sydenham River are both planned to receive $10 million each in future investment projected under DMAF while $16 million in DMAF projects are planned for Mitchell's Bay.
Another area most recently hit with severe flooding was Erie Shore Drive. A state of emergency was declared on August 27 and since then, Kelly said the municipality has invested a total of $300,000 for road and dike repairs in the area. Municipal officials are also currently awaiting the findings from the Provincial Disaster Assesment Team who visited Erie Shore Drive during the state of emergency, to determine eligibility for the Disaster Recovery Assistance for Ontarians.
According to Kelly, representatives from the municipality of Chatham-Kent have also been engaging and meeting with several representatives from provincial levels of government including Ontario's Special Advisor on Flooding to the Premier, Doug McNeil.
Kelly said they have presented public concerns and comments to McNeil, proposing that the provincial, municipal and federal government form a small working group to develop a flooding and erosion cohesive management plan. Chatham-Kent has made an offer to be part of a collaborative effort pilot project for developing provincial guidelines on building and managing properties in flood-prone areas. Kelly said they are waiting to hear the province's response to the idea.
"I think we have a lot of offer in Chatham-Kent and I think that was recognized in the meeting," he said. "It would be nice if we could define the specific roles of each government and clearly define what programs would be available, what the provincial guidelines would be on building and managing properties and really develop a unified technical solution."
Another long-term solution the municipality is working towards includes the detailed multi-phase Lake Erie Shoreline Study. The study is set to be completed in March 2020 and will provide recommendations on future land-use policies and infrastructure decisions.
"Longer term, we're asking council to seriously consider the Lake Erie Shoreline Study," said Kelly. "We are going through the process right now, we're determining costs and appropriate solutions."
