Winner of an FCM Sustainable Communities Award 2024 in the natural assets category
27 test areas spanning 500 metres of shoreline
4 different sediment types/depth tested
5 different edge treatments for erosion control and wave attenuation tested
Summary
The City of Surrey knew the risk of flooding and erosion on its coastline was growing and wanted to explore long-term solutions using natural assets to protect critical coastal infrastructure and increase biodiversity, too. Its living dyke pilot testing project on Mud Bay, in collaboration with Semiahmoo First Nation and the City of Delta, is a 2024 Sustainable Communities Awards winner in the natural asset management category thanks to an innovative approach to developing and testing techniques that support both nature and people while boosting climate resilience.
Background
On the southern end of Metro Vancouver, the Cities of Surrey and Delta and the Semiahmoo First Nation share a shoreline that is at increasing risk of flooding and erosion due to impacts of climate change and rising sea levels. Surrey’s Coastal Flood Adaptation Strategy, adopted in 2019, outlines the flooding-related challenges the municipality faces—some 20 percent of its land can be classified as coastal floodplain—and various actions it will undertake to mitigate risk.
The challenge
Infrastructure near Mud Bay includes an international highway, a nationally significant railway and regional power and sewer lines. These assets as well as nearby farms and other properties needed protecting from the increasing risk of flooding. Potential solutions would need to:
- dissipate wave energy
- enrich the intertidal zone with sediment
- support a nutrient-rich environment for coastal species
- meet flood safety standards
Other challenges to address included:
- Decreased ability of existing hard structures to cope with increased risk of flooding and erosion. For instance, the Coastal Flood Adaptation Strategy predicts that future floods will breach or overtop Surrey’s extensive network of earth dykes with increased frequency.
- Reduced wildlife habitat and biodiversity, in part due to the presence of human-built flood barriers.
The approach
Natural asset management is a strategy that implements natural elements to achieve a project goal, for example delivering low-cost, sustainable services such as water purification, air quality maintenance and, in this case, flood regulation.
With this project, Surrey created a living dyke—a gradual, elevated slope of land—to help natural marshes cope with rising sea levels.
The City began with a pilot to test a variety of flood resilience strategies on a 500-metre stretch of coastline, including:
- spaced and group planting
- four different sediment types and depths
- five different edge treatments such as oyster shells in biodegradable polymer netting
The City developed these strategies with partners including the City of Delta, Semiahmoo First Nation and the National Research Council in order to ensure a diversity of ideas and approaches. Close collaboration with Semiahmoo First Nation ensured that this project included traditional knowledge and cultural heritage development process and that rights holders were able to help shape the final plan. For example, Semiahmoo First Nation worked closely with scientists and researchers to share traditional knowledge and critique their work.
This inclusion of scientists is another key component of this project. Researchers have participated by doing field work, setting up instrumentation and developing models to evaluate effectiveness. In addition, numerous graduate students completed their theses on the project. Not only does this contribute toward evidence-based decision-making, but it provides learning opportunities beyond the scope of the project itself and has offered the ability to take an approach that incorporates both ecology and engineering.
“What’s satisfying is that it’s been a bottom-up approach that’s led to this novel way of protecting the shoreline using natural infrastructure, and it’s something the community really wanted.”
– Matt Osler, Senior Project Engineer, City of Surrey
Current and anticipated results
This project has helped to change national guidelines for coastal flood and erosion risk management and provided an example for other local governments to follow. Some current and anticipated results include:
Environmental:
- Increased storage of atmospheric carbon due to restoring salt marshes, which are significant carbon sinks.
- Increased shoreline resilience to flooding.
- Enhanced biodiversity through restoring habitat for birds, seals, salmon and other marine life.
- Improved circularity and reducing waste through the use of biodegradable waste products such as oyster shells in shoreline barrier creation.
- Data on the effectiveness of various techniques to provide long-term benefits as part of the region’s overall strategy to adapt to sea level rise to the year 2100, which is estimated to have a total cost of $9.5 billion.
Economic:
- Creation of quality jobs and stable employment.
- Active partnerships with Indigenous communities designed to foster long-term economic resilience and empowerment.
- Increased community equity due to the use of social procurement and support of local businesses.
- Reduced risk of future flooding-related costs.
Social:
- Enhanced public access to green space and accompanying recreation activities.
- Increased public safety from flooding events.
- Improved relationships between Indigenous and neighbouring communities due to collaborative project approach.
Lessons learned
This project has highlighted the importance of flexibility in design and implementation. As natural assets are monitored, opportunities arise to adjust and adapt to boost their effectiveness and they must be managed accordingly.
It has also demonstrated the value of inclusive collaboration. Working with a diverse range of partners led to a wider variety of perspectives and ideas, which resulted in solutions that are more robust and resilient with stronger stakeholder support and ownership.
Next steps
Mud Bay’s Living Dyke project is currently in an adaptive management phase during which staff are evaluating test site effectiveness. For example, the team is assessing test areas for plant survival rates, erosion control effectiveness and vegetation density and health. The team is also developing contingency plans and enhancing design robustness to prepare for future extreme weather events, and seeking additional funding sources to ensure project longevity. This project’s success will inform forthcoming initiatives with similar goals.
Quotes
“The nice thing about investing in a natural asset is that it can better adapt to change over time.”
– Matt Osler, Senior Project Engineer, City of Surrey
“Ultimately, what we need to do is accelerate adaptation. By bringing multiple organizations into one project, it accelerates everyone because it increases the capacity to do these projects.”
– Matt Osler, Senior Project Engineer, City of Surrey
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