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LEWPA Environmental Protection Fund Project Work

The Lake Erie Watershed Protection Alliance (LEWPA) was awarded funding from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation through the Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) to implement water quality improvement and protection projects in the watershed, conduct watershed planning, and establish a water quality monitoring program.

During this first year of funding through the EPF (FY2016), all three counties have instituted hydro-seeding initiatives to provide soil stabilization to prevent sediment from entering waterways. The Annual Report handout can be downloaded here

year one infographic

Numerous projects were completed in each county including:

  • Boat stewards at Dunkirk Harbor to educate on proper boat washing techniques to reduce the spread of invasive species;
  • Five streambank stabilization projects in Chautauqua County;
  • A wetland feasibility study for Wright Park Beach West;
  • A Quality Assurance Project Plan for sampling for E. coli at 19 locations throughout the watershed;
  • Eradicating invasive species at Crooked Brook and Spring Brook Fen;
  • Four road slope and ditch stabilization projects in Cattaraugus County to reduce erosion to tributaries to Lake Erie;
  • Technical assistance to determine the feasibility of switching from septic to sewer in a portion of Yorkshire;
  • Streambank and bed stabilization to a tributary to a trout stream in Erie County;
  • Green infrastructure feasibility study to provide surface water treatment at Hamburg Town Park Beach; and
  • Installing green infrastructure to protect a native trout stream in Springville.

Download the final reports for each County:

During the second year of funding (FY2017), LEWPA continued hydro-seeding in all three counties. Preparations were made to begin monitoring streams in the watershed for bacteria to start to get an idea of stream health and the impacts to beaches. Cumulative results for fiscal years 2016 and 2017 are illustrated in the image below. Click to access the annual report (FY2017)

cumulative results

Projects included:

  • Ten stream bank/ditch stabilization projects to reduce sediment and nutrients from polluting our waterways
  • "Entering Lake Erie Watershed" signs placed along the southern watershed border in Cattaraugus County
  • A hydrologic analysis of the removal of the Smith Mills Dam in Silver Creek 
  • Fish passage rehabilitation and stream bank stabilization project in Westfield
  • Outreach/handouts on aquatic invasive species
  • Assistance to communities on the Community Rating System benefits through the National Flood Insurance Program
  • Engineering study on water quality improvements at the Chatuauqua County fairgrounds and Crooked Brook near Route 60
  • Riparian buffer planting program implemented in Erie County
  • Invasive species control at Kenneglen Scenic & Nature Preseve
  • Sileage Leachate COllection System in Boston

The county final reports for FY2017 are below:

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