Chautauqua County has received more than $300,000 in state funding to protect water quality and the long-term health of local waterways.
New York State Agriculture Commissioner Richard Ball announced that $2 million is being awarded to 26 projects in 27 County Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs) across the state. Chautauqua County Soil and Water Conservation District is receiving a total of $327,835 for eight projects in the county through the Ecosystem Based Management – Stream Corridor Management Pilot Program.
The goal of the Ecosystem Based Management Program is to improve water quality, reduce erosion and sedimentation, improve wildlife habitat, and support the long-term health of our natural riparian ecosystems.
Projects that were funded include:
– Canadaway Creek Stream Stabilization – $100,000: Soil and Water will use the funds to protect water quality in Lake Erie through the stabilization of a section of Canadaway Creek, providing instream habitat for spawning Steelhead and protecting the source water to the City of Dunkirk’s drinking water intake.
– Walnut Creek Streambank Stabilization – $61,155: Soil and Water was awarded the money to stabilize a section of Walnut Creek, a trout stream and tributary to Lake Erie, keeping the center-line of the stream in the center of the channel, and installing a buffer of willow live stakes to filter stormwater.
– Slippery Rock Creek Stabilization – $34,235: Funding will be used to stabilize a section of Slippery Rock Creek, a tributary to Lake Erie, preventing soil loss and stream encroachment onto a nearby road and its shoulders, increasing the long-term resilience of the road.
– Tupper Creek Streambank Stabilization – $36,105: Funding will go toward protecting the water quality of Tupper Creek through the stabilization of its streambanks to prevent soil loss and sedimentation of nearshore Lake Erie, filter stormwater runoff, and protect Steelhead habitat.
– Sawalhi Streambank Restoration – $47,985: Soil and Water will use the funding to protect the water quality of an unnamed tributary to Lake Erie through the stabilization of a section of its streambanks, preventing soil loss and sedimentation of nearshore Lake Erie and increasing the climate resiliency of the town park it flows through.
– Schofield Grade Stabilization – $26,370: Funding will be used to protect the water quality of a highly eroding very steep and straight downslope unnamed tributary to Lake Erie through the stabilization of the streambed to prevent sedimentation of nearshore Lake Erie and soil loss from the agricultural cropland and vineyards it flows through.
– Crooked Brook Riparian Buffer – $21,985: Funding will be used to improve the water quality of Crooked Creek through the strategic planting of native species and the treatment and removal of invasive plant species.
A complete list of awardees is available to view here.
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