Unmanaged retreat along Lake Erie's eroding shoreline

RFR Principal Investigator and University of Waterloo Associate Professor, Brent Doberstein, was recently interviewed in The Energy Mix article "Lake Erie's Eroding Shoreline Raises a Bigger Question: Who Pays for Climate Risk?" by Kylie Brezden.

Erie Shore Drive, a waterfront neighbourhood in Chatham-Kent Ontario, is a case of unmanaged retreat – highlighting what happens when climate risks intersect with a fragmented multi-jurisdictional governance landscape, the legacies of poor planning and development in risky areas, and in the absence of formal policy supports.

Extensive shoreline erosion along Lake Erie has led private property owners to implement ad hoc erosion control measures to protect their homes. Others have been engaged in unmanaged retreat, bearing the financial burden of demolishing flood-damaged homes and moving in the absence of a formal relocation program. Although shoreline armouring can reduce immediate impacts, these structures are costly to build and maintain, and can exacerbate erosion and flood issues elsewhere along the shoreline due to the disruption of natural sediment deposition and wave action processes.