##  [Webinar - Growing Pains: re-using dredged sediment for coastal marsh resilience and flood protection in the Fraser River Delta, British Columbia](/portal/wetland-knowledge/events/webinar-growing-pains-re-using-dredged-sediment-coastal-marsh) 

Organization

[Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC)](/organization/ducks-unlimited-canada-duc)

 

 

Location

Online Webinar  
Canada



 

Event Date and Time

 December 9th, 2025 at 12:00pm MST to December 9th, 2025 at 1:00pm MST 

 

 [Register Here](https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/fdabe967-2ef8-4a67-8226-f38892135580@b2bb2713-1bbb-453d-bdd8-640c1565430e) 

 

**Growing Pains: re-using dredged sediment for coastal marsh resilience and flood protection in the Fraser River Delta, British Columbia**

**Eric Balke, MSc**

**Ducks Unlimited Canada**

  
The Fraser River Delta is a Ramsar wetland of international importance and contains the largest estuary meeting the west coast of Canada. European settlement has extensively modified this low-lying delta, including the construction of a vast network of riverine and coastal dikes to protect communities and livelihoods from flooding. While local governments are making plans to protect their communities from sea-level rise, there is no plan to support ecological resilience of tidal ecosystems outside the dike. Each year approximately 2 million cubic metres of sediment are dredged from the river and disposed at sea – more than anywhere else in Canada - however two projects seek to demonstrate cost-effective approaches to locally re-use dredged sediment to support ecological and flood projection objectives. Through the Sturgeon Bank Sediment Enhancement Pilot Project and the Boundary Bay Living Dike Project, ENGOs, First Nations, and all levels of government are working together to test and evaluate two locally-designed, innovative, nature-based solutions to support tidal marsh ecological resilience and coastal flood protection. Eric Balke will describe and provide a progress update for these two innovative pilot projects in progress, and frame these initiatives within the broader context of the need for a paradigm shift with our relationship with sediment and begin working toward a roadmap for beneficial reuse of dredge in the Fraser River Delta.

SPEAKER

Eric Balke

Conservation Programs SpecialistDucks Unlimited Canada



Eric Balke is a Senior Restoration Biologist leading Ducks Unlimited Canada’s (DUC) coastal restoration projects in British Columbia. He is also the BC lead for the Nature Force, a partnership between DUC and over 15 property & casualty insurance companies to build with nature to help protect urban Canadian communities from flooding and other climate-related hazards. During his Master’s of Science degree in Ecological Restoration, Eric studied a large receding tidal marsh in the Fraser River Delta, which he is attempting to restore with the award-winning Sturgeon Bank Sediment Enhancement Pilot Project.