LAKEWOOD, NY – A stormwater management project to help improve water quality on Chautauqua Lake and reduce downstream flooding problems in the Village of Lakewood will get underway soon in southern Chautauqua County.
The Grandview Stormwater Management Project was initially envisioned by the Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy (CWC), EcoStrategies Engineering & Surveying PLLC, and the Village of Lakewood in 2019. On Tuesday, local officials met with the local media to formally unveil the effort.
(Pictured left to right: PJ Wendel, Chautauqua County Executive, Randall Holcomb, Village of Lakewood Mayor, Randall Perry, Executive Director of the Chautauqua Lake and Watershed Management Alliance, John Jablonski III, Specials Project Coordinator Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy, Taylor West, Project Manager with the Chautauqua Lake and Watershed Management Alliance and Andy Johnson, an Environmental Engineer with EcoStrategies Engineering and Surveying.)
Plans will transform a vacant parcel of Village-owned land on Mapleview Avenue into a series of engineered wetland complexes and a surface nature park. Once completed, this will reduce sediment and nutrient loading to Chautauqua Lake and help address flooding along Fairmount Avenue near the Save-A-Lot Plaza.
The project’s design features approximately 100,000 cubic feet of stormwater detention by digging vernal pools, wetland complexes, and swales. Vegetation ranging from steep slope grass seed mixes to tree and shrub plantings are also anticipated to help improve water quality and site stability.
“It’s going to capture and treat the storm water and release it slowly,” explained Taylor West, Project Manager with the Chautauqua Lake and Watershed Management Alliance. “We had flash flooding in portions of the county on Monday because that water wasn’t slowly released and came down all at one time. This project will attempt to capture it and treat it through a variety of storm water management practices.”
The natural water management practice will also create a new wildlife habitat and recreational space for residents in the area.
“Not only is this project solving a water infrastructural deficit, but also creating a wonderful natural recourse,” said Andy Johnson, an Environmental Engineer with EcoStrategies Engineering and Surveying. “When complete, the Grandview Stormwater Management Project will create a nature park for the Village of Lakewood residents to enjoy.”
The majority of the project cost is funded by the Environmental Protection Fund administered by the NYSDEC through the Water Quality Improvement Project program. The local match is expected to come from the Alliance/Foundation Match Fund supported by the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation (CRCF), The Lenna Foundation, and the Holmberg Foundation, a County Occupancy Tax 2% Lakes and Waterways Grant to the Village of Lakewood, and a portion of a 2020 CLWMA Consolidated Foundation Grant with funding provided by The Lenna Foundation, the Ralph C. Sheldon Foundation, and the CRCF.
Construction is expected to get underway in the next few months, with the project completed at the end of the year.
