Scajaquada Creek Restoration Includes Dredging

Work is currently underway on a $2.8 million project that will restore Scajaquada Creek, from Main Street to Elmwood Avenue.

The project which includes $1.45 million in funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will remove polluted sediment, resolve flooding issues and make shoreline improvements.

The Buffalo Sewer Authority (BSA) will serve as the lead agency in the project which will resolve odor, flooding, stagnation, algae and sediment issues in these areas.

In addition to the City’s Sewer Authority and its Public Works, Streets and Parks Department, other key partners in the project include: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Forest Lawn Heritage Foundation, Forest Lawn Cemetery, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and Environmental Facilities Corporation, Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper and Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy.

“The restoration project at Scajaquada Creek is the culmination of strong partnership and effective collaboration to address local, state, and Federal objectives. The Army Corps of Engineers is honored to contribute to this successful partnership, and to the environmental and social benefits this project provides both to the Western New York community, and to the broader goals of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative for the Great Lakes Basin,” said Lieutenant Colonel Adam Czekanski, Army Corps of Engineers.

The 2017 Scajaquada Creek Restoration Project involves:

• Selective dredging throughout to address historic sediment accumulation, reduce water temperatures and improve creek flow;
• Earthwork and plantings within the cemetery at the Chapel Meadow to reconnect the floodplain to the creek;
• Restoration of the Creek’s banks to address invasive species, stabilize soils and provide overhanging vegetation and shade;
• Wetland enhancement of the former Swan Lake area of Forest Lawn Cemetery immediately east of Delaware Avenue, adjacent the creek and within the floodplain, to provide sediment storage, reduce flooding and improve water quality by acting as a biological filter, etc.

BSA‘s construction contract was awarded to Mark Cerrone, Inc. a certified women owned business enterprise located in Niagara Falls, NY.

Construction began in December 2016 with dredging and earthwork timed to minimize disruption to park users and the creek’s ecological functions.

The project will be completed in 2017.

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