A long-term solution that’s been a long time coming is in the works for the breach at Hillman Marsh.
On Thursday, September 17, officials from ERCA, the Municipality of Leamington, Caldwell First Nation, the Canada Water Agency, the province and coastal committee members gathered to present the Hillman Marsh Restoration Project.
For the past several years, the breach at the Hillman Marsh Beach and the erosion along that coastline have been of utmost concern to residents in the eastern section of Leamington.
Wayne King, who is the president of the Leamington Shoreline Association, has been documenting the erosion in that area for quite some time and has met with ERCA and municipal officials for years about the danger of that one giant storm that could wipe out an entire section of the municipality. His aerial and drone photographs have proved invaluable in keeping the issue front and centre in the minds of those who can help.
The project, which will be done in phases, will work toward mitigating the erosion in the area and restoring Hillman Marsh coastal wetlands to their previous condition.
Hillman Marsh is recognized as an Environmentally Significant Area, a Provincially Significant Area, and an Area of Natural and Scientific Interest. Since 2020, the open marsh has faced impaired water quality, harsh wave conditions and the loss of much of its submerged aquatic vegetation and tree cover.
“Hillman Marsh is more than an important wetland. It is part of the lands and waters of Caldwell First Nations’s traditional territory and its health is deeply connected to the health of our community and future generations,” said Chief Nikki van Oirschot. “We have a responsibility to actively steward these lands and waters to ensure that restoration efforts reflect both the best available science and the traditional knowledge and responsibilities stemming from our relationship with this place.”
ERCA chair Molly Allaire was on hand and talked about partnerships between all the concerned parties and how everything came together to bring them to the ground-breaking of the project.
Since 2022, talks about restoration have taken place with a steering committee of about 20 stakeholders.
Leamington Mayor Hilda MacDonald remembered when she was first elected to council in the 2006-2007 era, Hillman Marsh was fully enclosed and there was a plan put forward for rehabilitating the whole area and turning it back to nature.
“As a municipality, we couldn’t afford to do that,” she said. “Loved the principal of the idea. It wasn’t feasible.” She then talked about coming back in recent years and seeing that Hillman Marsh was no longer enclosed.
“It was now Hillman Bay,” she said. “And all I could think of was what’s going to happen to the side walls of the marsh. How can they continue to stand up to wave action.”
Photo courtesy of Wayne King.
She thanked Chief van Oirschot for Caldwell’s partnership and their ability to reach out to the federal government for the funding to start the restoration.
Phase 1A of the project will construct the southern half of a barrier rock core, providing immediate shelter to the portion of the marsh most directly affected by the breach. After an anticipated 8-12 month settlement period, the core will then be covered with sand and supported by future beach planting. It will also include a jetty, spur and offshore reefs designed to improve beach stability.
Sophisticated modelling tested the proposed design under a wide range of wave and water-level conditions to optimize the concepts and reduce the estimated construction cost by approximately $3 million. Thousands of plants (70 native species) have already been planted at the south end of the breach to help restore aquatic vegetation cover and improve water quality.
The budget for the current build is about $4 million and will be implemented over the next two years.
Subject to future funding, Phase 1B will complete the northern half of the barrier and implement nature-based solutions to slow the retreat of what remains of the original barrier beach.
For Wayne King, he’s happy that the project has reached this point.
“This is an exciting time for Hillman Marsh and it’s been a long time coming,” he said. “In 2017, we had a very large storm that destroyed the south end of Hillman Marsh and a couple years later, a total breach. It does my heart good to finally see this coming to an end.”
Construction is underway on the southern portion of the project.
