Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Resource Council
Coastal Erosion
Awareness
Ugpi’ganjig Sitmug • Eel River Bar Beach
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Introduction
Table of Contents
T
he Gespe’gewaq Mi’gmaq Resource Coun-
Introduction........................................1 cil, with funding from Environment Canada,
put together an awareness project on coastal
Driving Force 1:...................................2 erosion.
Sensitivity to Sea-Level Rise The goal of this project is to assemble information
on coastal erosion and its impacts, and to commu-
Driving Force 2: . ................................3 nicate them back to the community. The coastal
awareness project will seek to increase awareness
Wave and Current Action and understanding on the process of erosion, and
on the impacts of a vulnerable coastal zone.
Driving Force 3: . ................................4
Coastal erosion is a natural cycle of sediment mo-
Sediment Deficiencies tion that is caused by the combined action of the
sea and climate factors. Sea-level rise, wave and
Driving Force 4: . ................................4 current action, and sediment deficiencies are
Human Impact the three natural drivers of coastal erosion. These
natural events, in addition to human develop-
ment create problems related to coastal erosion
Aerial Photograph:.............................5
in many areas.
Eel River Bar
In Eel River Bar, this phenomenon appears to have
increased in recent years, posing a threat to liveli-
Community Talks................................6
hoods and infrastructures along the coast.
September 2009
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Eel River Bar
Listuguj
Pabineau
photo: http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca
T
he map shown here, “Coastal Sensitivity to Sea-Level Rise”, from Natural Resource Canada, shows
degrees of sensitivity to sea-level rise to which coastlines may experience physical changes such
as flooding, erosion, beach migration, and coastal dune destabilization. Atlantic Canada is one
of two major regions classified as highly sensitive. Eel River Bar is located in an area classified as ‘Mod-
erate’.
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Driving Force 2 • Wave and Current Action
W
aves are energy in motion. Although
most waves that are driven by the
wind are relatively small, releasing rela-
tively gentle energy, ocean storms can build up
waves to extreme heights. When these waves
come ashore, they can produce devastating
effects.
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Driving Force 3 • Sediment Deficiencies
T
he Earth’s coastline is constantly changing. tion, which remove or disrupt the natural veg-
Rock is disintegrated and decomposed, etation, have greatly accelerated the rate of
moved to lower elevations by gravity, and erosion. Without the stabilizing effect of plants,
carried away by water, wind, or ice. Natural the soil is more easily swept away by the wind
rates of coastal change vary greatly from one or water.
place to another and depend on soil charac-
teristics as well as factors such as climate, slope, The coastal region of the Eel River Bar area is
and type of vegetation. made up of various rock formations. On one of
our visits to the beach with a geologist, we not-
In the past, erosion occurred at slower rates than ed the presence of pillow basalts, a rock that
it does today because more of the land surface is more resistant to erosion, and as we walked
was covered and protected by trees, shrubs, towards Charlo, we saw a gradual change to
grasses, and other plants. However, human ac- more sedimentary rock formations, a rock that is
tivities such as farming, logging, and construc- more prone to erosion.
C
onstruction and development along the coast can result in a rapid deterioration of our natu-
ral coastline. As landowners continue to build homes as close to the water as possible, they
are forced to install artificial structures designed to reduce shoreline erosion. Our once-natural
shoreline is becoming a mix of concrete and rock walls that impact wetlands and dunes, reduce
public access, and cause the degradation of critical wildlife habitat.
• Overdeveloped shorelines reduce the ability of natural features like dunes, beaches and wet-
lands to protect against the severe storms and sea-level rise.
• Homes built too close to the shore are much more susceptible to flooding and storm damage.
• Concrete seawalls deflect waves causing nearby natural beaches to erode.
• Natural buffers degraded by human activity lose their ability to filter contaminated runoff before
it enters the marine environment.
• Poorly functioning septic systems dump untreated water that can impact shellfish harvesting, an
important economic activity in many coastal communities.
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7 13
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15 7 13
*The locations and dates of activities, were
14 indicated by the community members of Eel
River Bar, during a community project-meeting
on March 05, 2009.
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8 14
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Community Talks
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