Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper is helping guide the transformation of a region in the state of New York from a historical rust belt to one that values and maintains the integrity of its freshwater systems as a major component of regional economic revitalization. Through our ability to partner, collaborate, facilitate, and advocate, we have successfully leveraged public and private investments totaling nearly $200 million to clean, restore and revitalize local waterways. Our region’s past, present and future all directly tie to our relationship with our Great Lakes and freshwater resources. This year we were honored to co-host the annual meeting of the IJC’s Water Quality Board in our community and give IJC members a tour of our current projects.
The Beginning: Restoring a Polluted River
At Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper, we are proud of our grassroots origins. Founded in 1989 by a volunteer group of concerned citizens, our organization was created out of the desire to restore and protect the Buffalo River. In 1967, the U.S. federal government declared the Buffalo River ecologically dead. The severity of the contamination became glaringly apparent when the Buffalo River caught fire in 1968. Identifying our rivers as two of the 43 most toxic hotspots in the Great Lakes region, the IJC designated the Buffalo River and Niagara River an international “Area of Concern” (AOC) in 1987. For the last 25 years, Riverkeeper has partnered with public and private entities to put the Buffalo River on a trajectory to be “delisted” as an AOC by 2019.
Forging Innovative Partnerships for Effective Solutions
Working across sectors, Riverkeeper coordinated the Buffalo River Restoration Partnership, a seven-year effort leveraging $50 million from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and private funds from Honeywell. Other partners include the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the Erie County and the city of Buffalo. Together, we will complete the dredging process in the Buffalo River by the end of 2015.
Our Niagara River Habitat Conservation Strategy brought together Canadian partners, including the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority and Environment Canada, with 20 regional partners including The Nature Conservancy, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Sierra Club, Buffalo Audubon Society, and the Western New York Environmental Alliance. Our ambitious Green Infrastructure Initiative involves securing a $92 million commitment from the Buffalo Sewer Authority to allow homes and schools to actively collect stormwater and reduce combined sewer overflows.
Our nationally recognized Environmental Justice Program brought together numerous cultural and community groups, with government agencies such as the EPA and the New York departments of Health and Environmental Conservation. We collaborated with immigrant and refugee service groups to educate recent immigrants and subsistence anglers about safe fishing practices.
Our Rust to Blue Initiative, enabling a “Blue Economy” in Western New York, aims to create a cultural paradigm shift that values clean and accessible water as a catalyst for economic revitalization. This initiative has produced non-traditional collaboration with private sector partners including the HSBC Water Programme, Riverworks LLC, WNED-Public Television, State University of New York at Buffalo’s Regional Institute, and New York State Governor Cuomo’s Regional Economic Development Council.
Working closely with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper collaborated with 12 community and environmental groups, collectively called the Niagara Relicensing Environmental Coalition (NREC), to achieve a settlement resulting in a $450 million, 50- year commitment to establish the Niagara River Greenway: a 40-mile interconnected system of parks, trails and conservation areas.
Looking Forward
Through our innovative nonprofit business model, Riverkeeper has grown to be one of the largest “Waterkeeper” organizations in the world. Our team includes 23 full-time staff whose work impacts 3,250 miles of waterways throughout the 1,400- square mile Niagara River watershed, including two of the Great Lakes: Erie and Ontario. As the eastern gateway to the Great Lakes basin, Western New York connects with the world’s largest freshwater system, and shares a 40-mile international boundary with Canada along the banks of Niagara River.
With 95 percent of North America’s freshwater flowing through our region, our impaired waterways are in critical need of restoration and stewardship. Riverkeeper works to meet this need by advocating for the protection of our freshwater resources while implementing programs that restore fish and wildlife habitat, enhance public water access, and engage the community in environmental stewardship. For more than two decades, our work has evolved into a systems-level approach to securing Great Lakes watershed resiliency. This year, we were honored to receive international recognition for our collaborative approach: the International River Foundation awarded Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper the North American RiverPrize, recognizing excellence in river restoration.
As we look forward to the next 25 years, Riverkeeper will continue to ensure our region prioritizes the health and integrity of our freshwater resources, through policy, scientific research, planning, and community stewardship. We know we will have achieved our goals when our community and economic development policies integrate seamlessly with the social and ecological values of this globally significant freshwater resource.
To Learn More and Get Involved
Sign up for our newsletter at bnriverkeeper.org to stay in the loop on all our latest projects, and like our Facebook page to stay connected with our efforts to protect and connect our waters.
Executive Director of the Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper
Marketing & Development Manager at the Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper
