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Thursday, June 25, 2026 • • 5
Army Corps, Sewer Authority team up to tackle seawall concerns

By Amber Healy ect.” The Sewer Authority Park are right at the bottleneck of
walk along the pathway is contributing $3.6 mil- Lake Erie and the start of the Niaga-
leading south from Unity lion to the overall cost of ra River, the site bears the full force
AIsland, between the Niagara the project. of increased water levels, which
River and the Buffalo Sewer Au- While it might seem a have risen eight feet or more in a
thority’s water treatment facility, is strange partnership, the mere few hours in recent events.
in the process of becoming a safer Army Corps often works Along with frequent storms, waves
stroll. with non-federal partners and regular water level fluctuations
A long time ago, when Buffalo on major projects and has over the last 80 years, seiche events
was still running ferry service to the authorization to have caused significant deteriora-
Canada, the seawall standing be- “study, design and con- tion of the seawall and submerged
tween the river and dry land was struct small coastal storm structure on the west side of Unity
supported by bags of rock dropped damage reduction projects Island.”
into place from a barge, says Rosa- in partnership with local This damage has continued and
leen Nogle, a principal sanitary en- entities,” including the increased over the past 15 years,
gineer with the Buffalo Sewer restoration of a protective reaching a point where there’s now
Authority. Over time, the fast-mov- seawall. a threat of “catastrophic impacts to
ing river water did what it does to The Army Corps’ role the city’s wastewater treatment
rocks and shores everywhere: It will be to repair the 1,620 level to rise quickly, and the equally plant serving more than 550,000
broke down those rocks, and the linear feet of the wall it- quickly fall back down, much like people. This project is a necessary
sediment used to fill those bags, self, which will require the water sloshing in an overly filled investment to protect that critical
through erosion that has now weak- installation of steel plate bathtub when someone steps into it. infrastructure from further storm
ened the integrity of the wall itself. shoring, concrete surface “Like this tub, water builds up damage.”
Slowly, eventually, the water walking path, it’s pretty, but it’s not repairs and stone embankment to on the Buffalo side of Lake Erie Construction on the project is
from the river started to “migrate an essential service.” reaffirm the structural integrity of during high, sustained, east-to-west anticipated to begin in 2028.
into some of our underground struc- Working together the wall, protecting the land and wind events,” Schneider says. “Be-
tures,” as evidenced by some small to protect the waterways features above it. The Corps is not cause Unity Island and Freedom
sinkholes that began to form before The three-party deal, announced responsible for repairing the walk-
the city filled them in, she says. earlier this month, will protect the way above it; funding for that proj-
Now, the Sewer Authority and treatment facility, the seawall and, ect will come from the city.
the Army Corps of Engineers, Buf- as a bonus, the walking and biking “The city is partnering with the
falo District, headquartered just up path. The cost of the project will be Buffalo Sewer Authority because
the river on Niagara Street, are split between the city, Army Corps the city has the land rights and we
teaming up with the city to fix the and the Sewer Authority. are providing that local share” of the
problems that erosion can cause. “Our role is to study, design and costs, Nogle says.
For the city, it’s a matter of pro- construct the project to protect the Seiche events have increased
tecting the integrity of the sewer city’s wastewater treatment plant,” damage to seawall
authority’s treatment facility, as wa- says Avery Schneider, interim pub- While Buffalo is the butt of
ter seeping underground can weak-
lic affairs chief for the Army Corps many jokes when it comes to weath-
en the soil -- if sinkholes on the of Engineers, Buffalo District. “As er, the focus is usually the city’s
walking path are a problem, a sink-
part of this, we are leading the engi- high amounts of snowfall, but in the
ing treatment facility would be far neering and design process, will case of the seawall, the potential
more troubling.
oversee construction and are provid- damage isn’t from snow or ice but
“It’s an essential service,” Nogle ing the 65% federal cost-share ($6.9 rather seiches. These are high-wind
says of the treatment facility. “The
million) of the $10.5 million proj- events that cause the river’s water

WNY Forward Fund to offer grants for Exploration
of Strategic Realignment in the Nonprofit Sector

The WNY Forward Fund, a their strategic realignment initia- Foundation for Greater Buffalo, the
group of local funders who joined tives in the Fund’s first round of Health Foundation for Western &
together to support the WNY com- grantmaking. Central New York, Highmark Blue
munity and the local nonprofit sec- In addition to the new grant op- Cross Blue Shield Blue Fund, James
tor in the face of major shifts in portunity for Strategic Realignment H. Cummings Foundation, The
federal funding and priorities since and Nonprofit Resilience and recent John R. Oishei Foundation, Key-
early 2025, has announced its sec- grants in Civic Health and Common Bank, Margaret L. Wendt Founda-
ond round of grant opportunities for Ground, the WNY Forward Fund tion, M&T Bank, The Peter &
the exploration of strategic realign- will also prioritize Impact Data & Elizabeth Tower Foundation, Ralph
ment and nonprofit resiliency in the Storytelling. This priority area is C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation, United
WNY area. intended to support efforts to collect Way of Buffalo and Erie County,
Exploration of Strategic Re- and share critical data on how fund- and The Western New York Foun-
alignment and Nonprofit Resiliency ing cuts affect organizations and the dation. The Community Foundation
is one of three priority areas desig- people they serve, helping our com- for Greater Buffalo will manage the
nated by the collaboration. A grant munity better understand, commu- Fund.
application process will open imme- nicate and respond to the region’s Interested nonprofits can learn
diately for nonprofit organizations evolving needs, as well as highlight more about the WNY Forward Fund
interested in exploring and/or pur- the critical role that nonprofits play and the grant application process for
suing strategic realignment in vary- in our community. Strategic Realignment and Non-
ing levels including partnerships, WNY Forward Fund collabora- profit Resiliency at
shared services, mergers, and other tors include The Buffalo Bills Foun- WNYForwardFund.org. The dead-
collaborative models to help organi- dation, The Celia Lipton & Victor line for applications is Friday, July
zations adapt to the evolving envi- W. Farris Foundation, Community 24 at 4 p.m..
ronment and remain resilient and
responsive to community needs.
More information and the applica-
tion can be found at
www.WNYForwardFund.org. The
deadline to apply is Friday, July 24,
2026, at 4 p.m.
Grant awards, intended to spur
reimagining of service delivery and
innovation within the nonprofit sec-
tor, will be between $2,500 and
$25,000 and will be awarded in ear-
ly fall. Nonprofits in the eight coun-
ties of Western New York
(Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautau-
qua, Erie, Genesee, Niagara, Or-
leans, Wyoming) are eligible to
apply. In early 2026, the WNY For-
ward Fund allocated a total of Coupon Expires 7/31/26
$368,690 to 18 organizations rang-
ing from $2,250 up to $25,000 for