The federal government appears committed to assessing dyke lands on the marsh between Sackville and Amherst to determine how they will be impacted by rising sea levels.
Natural Resources Canada is providing $800,000 for a study of the dykes across the Isthmus of Chignecto between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
"This is tremendous news and they're doing exactly what needs to be done," Cumberland-Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley MP Bill Casey said last Wednesday.
"I don't expect to see dozers on the marsh tomorrow but it's a start. They will know what needs to be done so they can prepare because when it does happen their resources will be stretched so thin they won't be able to respond."
Representatives from the federal department, municipal units, both Dalhousie and Mount Allison universities and the Nova Scotia Community College's mapping school in Lawrencetown participated in a preliminary meeting last Tuesday at a hotel near Amherst.
Casey said he has been told the study will map the dyke lands using LIDAR, will project sea level rise, coastal erosion rates and produce flood-erosion maps. It will also identify the dykes, infrastructure and buildings that may be at risk.
A series of reports and studies have suggested the isthmus could be at risk because of rising sea levels brought on by global warming.
While the study is not underway, Casey is pleased the federal department has assigned the money.
In 2005, a United Nations report on rising sea levels suggested the Bay of Fundy and New Orleans as being the two most vulnerable areas in North America. Recent suggestions that polar and Antarctic glaciers are melting faster than anticipated has only heightened fears.
While the impact of rising sea levels may not be felt for decades, or even centuries, Casey has suggested on several occasions that Ottawa get involved in assessing low lying areas around the bay and working with provincial governments to do the work required to protect those communities found to be most vulnerable.
Study of dyke lands between Sackville, Amherst on the way
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Published on
April 15, 2009
- Published on March 5, 2010
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Darrell Cole
The federal government appears committed to assessing dyke lands on the marsh between Sackville and Amherst to determine how they will be impacted by rising sea levels.
Natural Resources Canada is providing $800,000 for a study of the dykes across the Isthmus of Chignecto between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
"This is tremendous news and they're doing exactly what needs to be done," Cumberland-Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley MP Bill Casey said last Wednesday.
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