The federal government has announced over $18.4 million to support projects aimed at restoring and protecting vital wetland habitats and Great Lakes waterways in Windsor-Essex.
The funding announced Friday by Windsor-West Liberal MP Irek Kusmierczyk is part of a $76 million investment in freshwater ecosystems to support 50 partner-led projects as part of the Great Lakes Freshwater Ecosystem Initiative.
The Essex Region Conservation Authority will receive $15,988,715 to support efforts to protect vital wetland habitats in the Detroit River Area of Concern.
Tim Byrne, Chief Administrative Officer of ERCA, says these projects will help bring the Detroit River one step closer to being delisted as an area of concern.
Byrne says this funding will have a profound impact on the well-being of our local watershed region.
"Two habitiat projects will be implemented in the Detroit River Area of Concern. A former wetland that disappeared and was destroyed as a result of fluctuating Great Lakes levels south of Fighting Island will be restored with the construction of offshore rock, check dams, and berms to improve nesting wetland bird and fish habitat and slow erosion of that island," he says.
Byrne says the dike that protects the River Canard wetland, the largest wetland complex remaining on the Canadian side of the Detroit River, will be rehabilitated to protect habitat for fish and wildlife.
"If you're ever out on a boat in the Detroit River and you just head downriver from us here, you need to see what that looks like. You need to see what that looks like. The acerage is huge that it covers, and with it being lost, we would not be able to recover from the loss of that feature," he says.
The University of Windsor will receive $1,590,000 as it plays a leadership role along with ERCA to help tackle harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie by reducing phosphorus loads.
Flowers Canada Growers will receive $887,000 for its role in the project, which will include the advancement of innovative technology to remove and recover phosphorus from surface water in the Leamington/Kingsville area.
As part of the overall effort, the Chippewas of the Thames First Nation will implement best management practices in the Thames River watershed to reduce phosphorus loads from reaching Lake Erie.
Byrne calls the investment "significant."
With increasingly violent storm events, erosion, and other issues related to our rapdily changing climate, the importance of expeditiously implementing these protective and restorative measures cannot be overstated," he says.
The overall investment is targeted toward improving water quality and ecosystem health in Areas of Concern, which are areas most impacted by historical industrial pollution, so that wildlife can once again flourish.