Chautauqua County Soil and Water Conservation District

The grants are through the State Department of Environmental Conservation‘s Water Quality Improvement program and Non-Agricultural Nonpoint Source Planning and Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System Mapping Grant program.

Chautauqua County Soil and Water Conservation District received $432,555 for streambank stabilization. This project will reduce erosion, sediment, and nutrients in the Chautauqua Lake Watershed.

A $105,000 grant will go toward implementing a county-wide roadside stabilization and hydroseeding program. This program will decrease roadside erosion to reduce the amount of sediment and nutrients in tributaries to Lake Erie.

The town of Chautauqua received a $30,000 grant to assess road and stream culvert crossings in the Chautauqua Lake watershed using the North American Aquatic Connectivity Collaborative framework and produce a culvert engineering design report for projects to address erosion caused by failing or inadequately sized culverts.

The Village of Lakewood received a $30,000 grant to complete a stormwater engineering study for the Chautauqua Mall Boulevard commercial corridor to reduce excessive stormwater runoff in the study area and to improve water quality entering Chautauqua Lake.

The town of North Harmony will receive a $30,000 grant to work with an engineer to develop a streambank stabilization engineering study of approximately 2,640 linear feet of stream corridor along Ball Creek. The engineering design report will identify areas of erosion and stream instability and identify potential management actions to reduce sediment and nutrient loading to Chautauqua Lake.

The town of Mina will receive a total of $90,000 for three projects. One will be to complete a stormwater retrofit engineering report to evaluate existing stormwater infrastructure and recommend stormwater retrofit practices. The project will reduce nutrient loading to Findley Lake.

They also will complete a comprehensive assessment of culverts in the Findley Lake watershed to identify any stream culverts that are undersized or failing. The project will reduce nutrients from erosion in tributaries to Findley Lake.

And the third project will be to complete an engineering study to assess the benefits of using in-waterbody controls for nutrients in Findley Lake. The report will evaluate existing nutrient loading conditions and recommend in-waterbody controls to reduce nutrient pollution.

The Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office responded to Route 430 just before 8:00 p.m. on a report of a missing girl. Deputies began searching the area and, after one hour, the Sheriff’s K9 Link found the girl stuck in a thick area of brush a half mile from her home.

She was uninjured and returned to her family.