Little River: An Investigation of Coastal Environment

Holden, Brendan; ,

Little River: An Investigation of Coastal Environment

by Brendan Holden, British Columbia Hydro & Power, Authority, Vancouver, BC, Canada,

Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: Coastal Zone '87

Abstract:

Little River is located about 6. 5 kilometres north of Comox on the east side of Vancouver Island. The last major flood in February of 1983 resulted in the river breaking through the beach berm and forming a new mouth at the sharp bend where it first approaches the shoreline. The Ministry of Environment designed and constructed an overflow sill at the breakout location. This overflow sill was constructed at an elevation that would allow the river to outlet only at extreme flow conditions and avoid flooding of the surrounding area. Following the construction of this overflow sill, a neighbouring property owner complained that his beach front property was eroding because of the sill. Although the new outlet did create a channel on the beach face before the sill was constructed, the flow is now so infrequent as to be of little concern. It was found that the property owner had acquired a significant beach front accretion in 1980 and subdivided this accretion in 1981. This accretion is believed to be the remnant of an alluvial fan created by an outbreak at approximately the same location in 1968. Additional aspects of the study are described.

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