Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy Ecological Restoration Manager Twan Leenders presents to Jamestown City Councl
The Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy is requesting over $600,000 in American Rescue Plan funds from the City of Jamestown to improve the safety and resiliency of the lower Chadakoin River.
CWC Ecological Restoration Manager Twan Leenders made the presentation before City Council. He said there are 5.75 miles of the Chadakoin River within the city limits, with .9 miles of that being the section between McCrea Point Park and the Warner Dam. He said that section gets more attention due to its connection to Chautauqua Lake and because it’s more navigable for boats.
Leenders said the 3.5 miles of river past the Warner Dam has not received a lot of attention for quite a while and there is a lot of bank destabilization and erosion, “You see challenges like this throughout the length of the river where banks are washing away by the simple existence of rain and gravity. You know these are things we can’t prevent. They will always be there. So I think it behooves us to maintain the water quality of the Chadakoin. Keep run off, keep erosion from happening by armoring these banks properly.”
Leenders said there is a lot of tree debris in the river, “When you think about the abilities to use the river, for example, for kayaking, for canoeing, it is absolutely impossible right now. It is tremendously dangerous to take a boat on this river cause you don’t know what’s underwater. What’s also really critical is that, especially right now, these obstructions cause the river to not properly drain floodwaters from the city. So areas, neighborhoods, backyards, businesses, are flooding right now because the river cannot simply discharge the water fast enough.”
Leenders presented a proposal that includes removing debris from the river, including dead hazard trees from the bank, and addressing compromised trees that lean into the river. The plan also would stabilize the banks and remove invasive species that are replaced with resilient, native plants. Leenders said that at the same time the restoration work would happen they recommend putting together a master plan for the entire Chadakoin River, “Which looks at all the banks for 3.5 miles between the Warner Dam and the Falconer Village line and identifies and maps all of the trouble spots that exist along that bank. So 3.5 miles both sides, that’s 7 miles of riverbank where there are trouble spots that need to be addressed.
The plan also would look at opportunities to increase the city’s climate resilience and involve property owners and the community in exploring ways to activate the lower Chadakoin. Leenders requested $633,908 in American Rescue Plan funds for the project as an initial investment is needed in the river to get to a point where there’s enough data to apply for other funding streams.
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