The Bird Island Wastewater Treatment Plant will be modernized and updated with the help of a $13 million grant announced Thursday, and another $10 million will be used to transform an underground storage tunnel that will help contain stormwater and prevent flooding.
State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos was present Thursday afternoon at the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library to announce funding for 295 water projects across the state, including a $32.4 million grant to various Western New York communities to improve and protect drinking water by updating dilapidated infrastructure and controlling algal bloom.
The Niagara County Water District will receive a nearly $1.25 million grant to replace the 1-million-gallon wash water tank in its water treatment plant and improve water quality. Other grants also include $400,000 to Western New York Stormwater Coalition.
The $10 million grant will be used to construct an underground storage tunnel along East Delavan Avenue to provide a minimum of 1.5 million gallons of offline storage. This project is expected to reduce the discharge entering Scajaquada Creek from combined sewer overflows during periods of heavy rain and snow melt.
“The funds are, obviously, for water, but every dollar that we spend on our water infrastructure also helps us become more resilient in the face of climate change,” Seggos said. “We are experiencing more frequent, more severe weather. So those investments, in fact, are investments in the adaptation of New York State for the very severe weather future that we expect.”
Rebuilding the infrastructure to account for the severe weather puts the state in a better position to keep people here and build an environmentally sustainable state, he added.
“Our major sewage treatment facilities in this region are all on our clean water supply. We need to keep it as clean as possible,” Erie County Executive Mark…
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