The shoreline at Kin Beach Provincial Park should have a new look next summer, thanks to a grant and proactive work by the park board to restore the natural sediment balance and mitigate further impacts to the area.
Rosemary Carnahan, secretary with the Kin Beach Park Board, said a grant from Fisheries and Oceans Canada Recreational Fisheries Conservation Partnerships Program of $64,000 will allow the board to partner with other groups and organizations to complete the $130,000 project.
The majority of the proposed shoreline work will occur between Dec. 1 and Feb. 15, 2017, during the least risk timing window for fish. Shoreline planting and back shore restoration will occur in the spring and fall of 2017.
Carnahan said the board hired professionals to complete background studies at the park and include a wave analysis study, an archeological overview, a plant inventory of native species and a design report.
Greenshores were the preferred restoration method for Kin Beach, noted Carnahan, but there is a 30-metre stretch which will need to tie-in to existing riprap armoring on the neighboring properties.
Along the majority of the eroding shoreline between the riprap tie-in at the northern end of the beach and southern limit, large diameter rooted logs will be anchored in the beach and will restore a more gradual beach profile.
“Many parts of the project came together from in-kind donations. We were able to secure trees for the woody debris from land clearing at the new (north Courtenay) connector and from the Ministry of Transportation.”
Carnahan added there will be split-rail fencing to guide the public to the beach, which will have three separate access points to discourage the people from walking on the fragile ecosystem.
The goal of the project is to mitigate shoreline erosion and plant natural vegetation to enhance the environment for spawning fish species, and to preserve the native plant species.