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By I'Jaz Ja'ciel
Buffalo Toronto Public Media
Niagara Falls Mayor Robert Restaino and Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper announced Wednesday that the city will receive a $2 million state grant to fund a living shoreline restoration project along Gill Creek.
The funding, which was awarded through the state’s Water Quality Improvement Program (WQIP), will support restoration activities that include removing a deteriorating boardwalk and replacing a mowed lawn with vegetation around the creek to create a living shoreline.
“We've been hyper focused on this waterway for well over 10 years,” said Jill Jedlicka, executive director of Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper. “Our plans don't stay on the shelf, we actually put them into action."
The new shoreline is expected to reduce erosion and improve habitat for aquatic organisms. Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper has had success with similar projects like the wetland restoration project in Buffalo's Forest Lawn Cemetery and shoreline riparian restoration at Ellicott Island Bark Park. Jedlicka said the latest project will begin in Spring 2027 and should conclude by late summer.
Gill Creek has historically faced issues like water runoff, pollution and habitat degradation. The creek also flows through Hyde Park Lake, which has harmful algal blooms due to the nutrients and stormwater runoff that spills directly into the lake.
Restaino noted that Hyde Park is the largest urban park in New York State outside of Central Park in New York City, and he hopes to make it a more enjoyable destination for its visitors.
“What we are trying to do, and what we've been trying to do, is invite our residents back into the park to create a place for them to come again and enjoy themselves.”
The shoreline restoration project is one of 131 statewide projects to which the WQIP has committed more than $200 in its latest round of funding.
Western New York received over $37 million in WQIP funding, which included designations of $10 million to the Buffalo Sewer Authority and $4 million to Erie County for water infrastructure and shoreline stabilization efforts.
Gov. Kathy Hochul devoted over $265 million in investments to support healthy waterways across New York State.
“The Governor's whole of government approach ensures state agencies coordinate resources and assist local partners like Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper in successfully advancing projects, obtaining grants and other crucial assistance and building stronger, healthier, more affordable communities,” said Julie Barrett O'Neill, Region 9 regional director of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
Environmental and government leaders are optimistic that the restoration project will benefit both the ecology and economy of the city.
“I would say probably as early as next month, the City of Niagara Falls is overrun with about 9 million guests that consistently come this way,” Restaino said. “One of the things that might be of interest to those guests and those visitors is the opportunity to enjoy some of that outdoor activity that we think projects like this will be able to offer them.”
