The Manitoba government is supporting a $100,000 pilot project to preserve and build up Victoria beach, Water Stewardship Minister Christine Melnick announced today.
Through a grant to the Rural Municipality of Victoria Beach, the funding will help build up the beach using a process called aggradation. Beach aggradation projects encourage the deposition of sand, to build up beaches in front of shoreline erosion protection works. Aggradation has been attempted in other parts of North America but this is the first pilot project of its kind on Lake Winnipeg.
The municipality is hiring consultants to review technical information on beach aggradation technology, collect physical data at the site, and design and build the actual protection project. The municipality will also create a community shoreline advisory committee to hold public consultations with respect to shoreline erosion control structures, beach preservation and related issues.
In addition, Manitoba Water Stewardship’s shoreline erosion technical committee will help the rural municipality select the type of works for the pilot project and help with ongoing monitoring to evaluate the project’s success, said Melnick.
