'Long overdue' dikeland upgrades coming to rural N.S. community
CBC
A rural Nova Scotia community on the Bay of Fundy is preparing for the most significant upgrades in decades to the dikeland system that protects it from flooding.
The work has been approved for Advocate Harbour, N.S., which has been identified as being at risk due to rising sea levels caused by climate change.
People who live along the shore of the coastal community got to see plans for the project at a meeting in April.
"It's been a long time coming," said Linda Black, whose home is within a couple of hundred metres of the shore. "It's scary when the tide is in full and that water is up to the top of the rocks."
Her neighbour Mike Berry recalls the water being at his fence line during a storm in 2019.
"The cattle were stranded on the high points. There was no damage, but it just put things in perspective," Berry said.
The upgrades will see the height of the dike walls increased by two metres to an elevation of 7.6 metres in some parts.
They will also be extended by an additional 500 metres to provide added protection to the community.
The project is equally funded by the provincial and federal governments through a disaster mitigation and adaptation fund.
Climate change is the big driver for the reinforcement work, with projections in Nova Scotia showing sea levels are anticipated to rise up to one metre by 2100.
"The risk currently is that we're seeing flooding in certain regions of Nova Scotia and with the dike increase in height, we would protect the town and local infrastructure and agricultural farmlands from that flooding," said Jessica LeBlanc, a project engineer for the provincial Department of Public Works.
While the dikes are continually maintained, LeBlanc said there has not been extensive work on them since the 1950s.
The site is one of 16 the province earmarked for upgrades based on their vulnerability.
Thousands of tons of armour rock will be needed to build up the seaward side of the dike, with grass on the land side, she said.
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