Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation (ECHDC) celebrated first phase of building the new wetland ecosystem in Buffalo's Outer Harbor this Friday.
Gabriel Schiffhauer with the Army Corps of Engineers says Phase I is ahead of schedule.
"Our contractor laid bedding stone into the bottom of the lake bed, that's our first step, the next step is going to be building up a breakwater in the spring," said Schiffhauer on Friday.
Schiffhauer says after the breakwater is built, they'll have three two-year periods of dredge material placement where they'll clean dredge material from the Buffalo River.
"We're going to have a number of phases where we're going to shape the dredge material into habitat and then plant some native aquatic in subaquatic species in really developed some habitat back here behind the breakwall," Schiffhauer added.
The goal of the project is to protect the area and stop some of the energy from the lake to protect the habitat.
Lt. Col. Colby Krug of the Army Corps says they'll build an artificial reef.
"Over the course of probably the next six years of dredge cycles, all the stuff we take out of the Buffalo River here that we drag out, will go in here, and we have proof that it will become a new ecosystem. You're gonna see fish and wildlife returned to slip three, you're gonna see plants, and the bird watchers are gonna love this place," said Krug on Friday.
"It's been exciting to watch the progress in creating Slip 3's new wetland ecosystem," added Mark Wendel, president of Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation. "Directly adjacent to Wilkeson Pointe, where an extensive, year-and-a-half long improvement project is starting this fall, the Slip 3 project will help renew key elements of the aquatic habitat that New York State and Gov. Hochul recognize are crucial to a vibrant waterfront."
"Addressing legacy pollution from the Great Lakes and improving critical ecosystems is an investment in public health and our future," said U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Regional Administrator Lisa F. Garcia.
"EPA is proud to work with the partners through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, to improve and restore aquatic habitat along Buffalo's waterfront area. This work will benefit all of Buffalo's communities and the natural world for generations to come."
In partnership with ECHDC, the overall $14.8 million project aims to reverse coastal wetland degradation in the Niagara River system and across the Great Lakes. Decades of industrial development and hardening of shorelines has diminished fish nursery and spawning habitats in these areas.
The project is being conducted in three phases – construction of the breakwater, placement of dredged material, and formation of aquatic and sub-aquatic habitat.
This season's construction, which started in September and concluded on Oct. 19, included placement of 17,200 tons of bedding stone in Slip 3. The bedding stone is expected to displace silty sediment at the bottom of the slip and settle over the winter.
In the project's third phase, planting of native species will include submerged and emergent aquatic vegetation that can compete with invasive species and provide high-quality aquatic habitat for both aquatic species and migratory/resident bird species. The new habitat will also include gravel beds, rock piles, root wads, logs, and existing dock piles to provide maximum habitat complexity and structure.
Project information and safety signage will be installed along Fuhrman Boulevard outside Slip 3 and neighboring Wilkeson Pointe to keep the public informed and help ensure safety at the site. Hazard marker buoys will be placed to mark where the breakwater stone has been placed since the entirety of the breakwater will be submerged until underlayer stone is placed next season.
Plans for habitat creation at the Outer Harbor used lessons learned from previous partnership between USACE and the City of Buffalo in the first successful beneficial use project on the Great Lakes – restoring a wetland ecosystem at Unity Island. Slip 3 was identified by a multiagency committee as a habitat management opportunity in the Niagara River Area of Concern.
The feasibility study for this project was 100% federally funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI). USACE and ECHDC executed a Project Partnership Agreement in January 2022 enabling the design and implementation phase, now underway. Design and implementation is cost-shared 65% Federal (USACE) and 35% Non-Federal (ECHDC with funding from the GLRI).
Based on the current USACE construction budget, the ECHDC total commitment over the course of the project will be $4,972,000 over a 12-year period. This funding is from the New York Power Authority, through relicensing agreements tied to the operation of the Niagara Power Project.
