The Comox Valley Regional District, in partnership with the Stewardship Centre for BC and K’ómoks Guardian Watchmen, have been awarded a grant worth over $1.1 million from the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) through their Community Emergency Preparedness Fund. The grant funds will be used in the Dyke Road Park Green Shores Demonstration Project.
“This funding from UBCM is incredibly exciting for the community to support the Dyke Road Park Green Shores Demonstration Project,” said Alana Mullaly, general manager of planning and development services. “We look forward to working with our project partners to strengthen the site’s coastal resilience and minimize the risk of further flooding.”
Partnering with the Stewardship Centre for BC and K’ómoks Guardian Watchmen on the Dyke Road Park Green Shores Demonstration Project, the CVRD is working to complete a shoreline restoration project to demonstrate a nature-based solution for shoreline management and coastal adaptation. Other project partners include Project Watershed, Guardians of Mid-Island Estuaries, and the Pacific Salmon Foundation, with technical support from coastal engineers and landscape architects.
The UBCM grant application was supported by previous work done through the Coastal Flood Adaptation Strategy (CFAS) Phase 1 and 2, which recommends nature-based approaches to shoreline management to: build coastal resiliency, address sea level rise adaptation, and remove invasive species to improve habitat restoration.
Key objectives will provide an array of benefits to the area:
- The removal of hard shoreline armouring and concrete structures;
- Reduction of water resistant surfaces on site;
- Shoreline stabilization through riparian plantings and landscaping;
- Habitat restoration, including the establishment of a new tidal channel;
- Removal of invasive species;
- Improved coastal adaptation, reducing the flood risk to Comox Road;
- Increasing connectivity to Kus-Kus-Sum and Hollyhock flat to create a vibrant and productive estuary habitat;
- Protection of Indigenous cultural archaeology.
Featured image: (Resilient Coasts for Salmon)
