Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper, Erie County, Town of Evans receive grants to enhance community resilience and environmental integrity

New York Sea Grant Press Release

New York Sea Grant (NYSG) and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation have selected Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper, Erie County and the Town of Evans as three of eight recipients of funding through the New York Great Lakes Basin Small Grants Program.

The projects selected for funding advance the New York Great Lakes Great Lake Action Agenda goals to apply an ecosystem-based approach to enhance community resiliency and environmental integrity, and are identified in locally supported community plans pertaining to water quality, natural resources or sustainable land use. 

Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper will receive $50,000 for a project that will incorporate aquatic habitat structures and native plantings at a shoreline restoration site at Ellicott Island Park. This work will reduce erosion, improve habitat and reduce opportunities for invasive species colonization.

The Erie County Department of Environment and Planning will receive $49,982 for a Lake Erie watershed regulation review process that will provide technical assistance on sustainable land use to municipalities within the Niagara River and Lake Erie watershed. The process will include recommendations for improvements to municipal codes, regulations, and plans and develop a checklist tool for decision-making by municipal boards.

The Town of Evans Department of Planning and Community Development will receive $48,000 to analyze sediment transport impacts for the proposed revitalization and potential expansion at Sturgeon Point Marina in an effort to reduce annual operational costs, ensure recreational opportunities, improve the economic value and social benefits of the marina, and promote coastal resource stewardship and resiliency.

"New York state is committed to advancing resiliency, water quality protection, and sustainable land use in the Great Lakes watershed by investing in projects that make valuable contributions to our environmental goals," DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos said.

"The Great Lakes Basin Small Grants Program empowers shoreline and watershed stakeholders to take an active role in conserving, protecting and enhancing their unique environmental and ecological resources in keeping with New York's Great Lakes Action Agenda," New York Sea Grant Associate Director Katherine Bunting-Howarth said.

New York Sea Grant administers the New York Great Lakes Basin Small Grants Program in partnership with DEC in support of projects that address the diverse environmental needs of waterfront communities in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River region. Past projects have included adding Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant canoe and kayak accessibility, youth environmental education, restoration of fish passageways and creating living shoreline habitat.

Joining Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper, Erie County and the Town of Evans for the most recent New York Great Lakes Basin small grant awards are the City of Ithaca, the Village of Sodus Point, the Finger Lakes Institute at Hobart and William Smith College, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Jefferson County, and Northern Forest Canoe Trail Inc.

The New York Great Lakes Basin Small Grants Program is funded by the New York State Environmental Protection Fund. In the 2023-24 state budget, Gov. Kathy Hochul maintained EPF funding at $400 million, the highest level of funding in the program's history. To date, more than $1.4 million has been awarded for projects across New York's Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River region. more information about the New York Great Lakes Basin Small Grants Program is available on the NYSG website or by calling NYSG's Buffalo office at 716-270-2490.

New York Sea Grant, a cooperative program of Cornell University and the State University of New York, is one of 34 university-based programs working with coastal communities through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Sea Grant College Program. NYSG brings “science to the shore” through a statewide network of integrated research, education, and extension services in support of coastal community economic vitality, environmental sustainability, and citizen awareness and understanding of the state's marine and freshwater resources. Learn more at http://www.nyseagrant.org.