Buffalo & Niagara River Habitat Assessment

In the mid-1980s the International Joint Commission listed 42 “Areas of Concern,” severely degraded rivers and harbors across the U.S.-Canada Great Lakes basin.

These included the lower 6.2 miles of the Buffalo River and the entire Niagara River. The IJC identified 14 possible “beneficial use impairments,” to be confirmed and then addressed by remedial action plans. Loss of fish and wildlife habitat was one of the confirmed impairments on both the Buffalo and the Niagara rivers.

On the basis of habitat research to date, and with the help of a GIS mapping consultant and a technical advisory group of expert stakeholders, Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper has developed habitat inventories and restoration goals for our two rivers.