Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper seeks community input on master plan for Gill Creek

Presentation, interactive activities, food part of family-friendly event at Hyde Park 

Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper is inviting the public to attend a community meeting about Gill Creek, and give input to the development of a master plan for the waterway.

From 5-7 p.m. Thursday, March 9, the public is invited to Hyde Park Ice Rink pavilion – JR’s Stone Room at 91 Robbins Drive in Niagara Falls. Waterkeeper staff will hold a short presentation at 5:30 p.m., with the rest of the time dedicated to interactive activities and an informational table. The family-friendly event will offer food and drinks to visitors.

A press release stated, “Gill Creek is a highly impaired waterway that flows through many neighborhoods and public parks. Waterkeeper is proud to continue to focus on the Gill Creek corridor as a priority location for its projects and programs. The goal is to restore the creek to a safe, healthy and accessible community waterway.”

Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper is drafting a preliminary master plan for the Gill Creek corridor that outlines the basic strategies for achieving holistic waterway revitalization.

The main strategies identified in the draft Gill Creek master plan include:

√ The design and implementation of several living shoreline restoration projects along Gill Creek and Hyde Park Lake;

√ Improved golf course management practices that reduce fossil fuel, nutrient and chemical inputs;

√ Targeted community outreach and education about water-smart landscape practices and fostering stewardship of restored areas; and

√ Improved connectivity and access to surrounding regional assets and trail systems. 

The press release added, “Input from local community groups and stakeholders is critical to ensure the scope of work outlined in the master plan reflects the needs of those that reside and recreate along this waterway, and is aligned with the priorities of the current municipal leaders and residents.”

In 2022, Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper received funding from the Greenway Ecological Standing Committee to support the next phase of the Gill Creek master plan.

The press release said, “This next phase of the master plan will prioritize robust community/partner/stakeholder engagement, refine the master plan, identify priority areas for future projects, garner support for implementation, and include living shoreline concept development to tee-up top priority projects for future funding requests.”

For more information, contact Holly Kistner, project manager at Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper, at 716-852-7483, ext. 45; or email [email protected]. Additional details are at https://bnwaterkeeper.org/event/gill-creek-community-meeting/.

About Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper

Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper is a community-based nonprofit organization that protects and restores waters and surrounding ecosystems for the benefit of current and future generations. For over 30 years, Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper has been “the guardian of Western New York's fresh water, protecting clean water, restoring the health of ecosystems, connecting people to the water and inspiring sustainable economic growth and community engagement.”

For more information, visit www.bnwaterkeeper.org.