The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District, has awarded a $1.34 million contract to Tidewater Inc. of Elkridge, MD to restore aquatic and nearshore habitat at the Seneca Bluffs Natural Habitat Park located along the Buffalo River in Buffalo NY.
The project will restore natural habitat along approximately 2,500 linear feet of shoreline along the Buffalo River and help meet the habitat restoration goals for the Buffalo River Area of Concern.
This work also meets the goals of a wide array of project partners including Erie County, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), and the Buffalo-Niagara River Keeper.
The project is being executed through an Interagency Agreement between the EPA and the Corps with funding provided through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.
Proposed work will focus on standard and bioengineering techniques to reduce shoreline erosion, installation of structural habitat within the river, and establishment of native plant communities including invasive species management.
The contractor will begin work this fall and have the construction substantially complete before winter. This will be followed up with plantings in the spring, and a three-year monitoring of the native plant community establishment.