LAKEWOOD, NY (WNY News Now) – Heavy rain and unfavorable weather conditions can knock over trees, bring power lines down, and reduce visibility for drivers. However, large amounts of water can do even more damage than most realize.
For the area of Grandview in Lakewood, flooding is fairly common and that flood water has to go somewhere. Unfortunately, it more than likely ends up in the Chautauqua Lake, bringing sediment and many undesirable nutrients with it.
“There’s really four goals of this project, the first is to improve water quality to Chautauqua Lake, the second is to reduce downstream flooding problems, the third is to create new wetland and wildlife habitat, and the fourth is to create a nature park for the village of Lakewood residents to enjoy,” said Environmental Engineer Andy Johnson.
There are a few solutions to the runoff problem that will be put in place.
“This is the Grandview Storm-Water Management Project. Once completed, this project will create around 100,000 cubic feet of storm-water storage through the creation of a series of wetland detention complexes and swales, which essentially are vegetated ditches,” said Project Manager for Chautauqua Watershed Alliance Taylor West.
Not only will this project reduce flooding, there are several other benefits as well.
“This project will have positive benefits as far as reducing flooding on the Route 394 corridor near the Save-A-Lot plaza, as well as reducing sediment and nutrient loading to Chautauqua Lake,” said West. “The project will also create a series of wildlife habitat that will serve as a storm-water nature park.”
In the end, the team is very grateful for all those who assisted.
“We’re really looking forward to it and we want to thank all of the individuals and organizations that have been involved with the project so far to make this a success,” West said.
The project is expected to begin over the next few months, and see completion early into 2024.
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