ERIE COUNTY, NY- The Erie
County Department of Environment & Planning (DEP), in partnership
with the Lake Erie Watershed Protection Alliance (LEWPA) and Buffalo
Niagara Riverkeeper, has announced plans to begin Phase II of the
Regional Niagara River/Lake Erie Watershed Management Plan following
their successful application for New York State Consolidated Funding,
which resulted in an award of $507,830 from the NYS Department of State
to pursue the Plan. This project builds on three years of effort by
Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper for Phase I of a Niagara River Watershed
Management Plan and is a continuation of a community-based watershed
planning effort to improve and protect all of Western New York's water
resources.
“As I stated in my ‘Initiatives for a Smart Economy’
address [link below], the protection and restoration of the health and integrity of
Western New York’s fresh water systems is not only sound environmental
policy but also represents a smart investment in our economic future,” said Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz.
“Clean,
healthy and accessible waterways are essential to the environmental
health and continuing economic recovery of Western New York. I commend
the DEP and their partners for the good work they are doing and for the
positive legacy that will remain when they have completed the Plan.”
Phase II efforts will
integrate the remaining sub-watersheds within the Lake Erie Watershed
to develop a comprehensive, regionally-based Watershed Management Plan
for Western New York. This phase will also address numerous ongoing and
emerging water quality issues in order to help attract and support a
multitude of recreation, tourism, and commercial businesses.
“We are a
Great Lakes region, with two major coastal cities and a numerous
waterfront communities that share access to 95% of North America’s fresh
water”, said Jill Jedlicka, Executive Director of Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper.
“It is evident that our regional economic revitalization directly
correlates to how we embrace, protect and enhance the quality of our
water, and this planning effort helps us maximize these resources
without sacrificing our quality of life and environment”.
Lake Erie and the Niagara
River are both valued as natural resources, economic engines, sources
of power, and for aesthetic and recreational purposes. However, the
impairments of the Lake Erie-Niagara River Basin create real costs for
WNY, severely undermining both their quality-of-life and their full
economic development potential. When complete, the Watershed Management
Plan will provide a blueprint for municipalities to maximize the
economic benefits of the watershed while minimizing environmental
impacts on it.
The mission of the Lake Erie
Watershed Protection Alliance is to foster collaboration and
partnerships within the watershed to address regional water quality and
quantity concerns and in doing so, protect and enhance our Lake Erie
resource.
- On the Erie County Department of Environment and Planning, visit www.erie.gov/environment
- On the Lake Erie Watershed Protection Alliance, visit www.erie.gov/LEWPA
- On Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper, visit www.bnriverkeeper.org
- Erie County ‘Initiatives for a Smart Economy’ [PDF - 5,207 KB]
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