This year marked Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper’s 35th anniversary. To celebrate this milestone, we hosted the Emerald Evening, bringing together supporters, partners, and community members to honor decades of dedication to Western New York’s waterways.

• YELP Success: This summer, 17 students graduated from our Buffalo YELP program, gaining hands-on experience in environmental stewardship. Activities included tree care at Ellicott Creek Park, macroinvertebrate sampling in Buffalo Creek, and a hike to the Eternal Flame at Chestnut Ridge Park. Graduates celebrated aboard the Miss Buffalo during our second reunion event.
• Volunteer Achievements: Our volunteers made a massive impact in 2024, helping with 35 events such as educational lessons, spring cleanups, and community outreach. Together, they collected over 1,100 nurdles, responded to dozens of Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) reports, and participated in PFAS and E. coli sampling efforts.

Spring Sweep 2024, was a huge success.

• 1,233 volunteers came out to cleanup
• We removed trash at 40 sites throughout the Niagara River/Lake Erie Watershed
• An estimated 10,460 pounds of trash was collected at the Spring Sweep

We have continued to promote our digital data collection efforts using the Clean Swell app, and volunteers recorded over 41,000 pieces of trash this year.

We expanded our water quality monitoring program with the help of 29 dedicated volunteers. Here’s what we achieved:

• • Monitoring Network: Covered 89 sites throughout the Niagara River/Lake Erie watershed, stretching from Youngstown to Angola and Batavia.
  • Sampling Efforts: Collected 634 samples, including data on PFAS, E. coli, nutrients, and DNA.
  • Offshore Sampling: Conducted offshore sampling in Lake Erie for the first time, thanks to support from Brookdog Fishing Company.
  • HAB Awareness: Increased public awareness through news stories, social media, and community events.

• RAMPS Program: Completed the second year of the RAMPS program, where participants contributed to restoration tasks at 15 sites along the Niagara River Greenway. Their efforts included planting 5,325 herbaceous plugs, 633 woody plants, and installing 258 rocksocks.
• Community Impact: Hosted 24 events, engaging 127 public volunteers, and oversaw trail stewardship projects spanning over 2,150 feet.

• Bark Park: Substantially completed in November, this bioengineered shoreline now controls erosion, reduces turbidity, and offers a safe water access area for dogs while protecting adjacent habitats.
• Eighteenmile Creek: Progressed design efforts for shoreline stabilization and habitat enhancement along this important waterway.
• Sheridan Park: Secured funding for a living shoreline project connecting West Pond and Two Mile Creek.

• Niagara Wheatfield Eco-Campus: Launched a project to create immersive outdoor learning opportunities for students along Cayuga Creek.
• Scajaquada Creek Restoration: Hosted bus tours and community advisory group meetings, gathering insights and showcasing watershed highlights.
• Gill Creek: Finalized green infrastructure designs to capture over 2 million gallons of untreated stormwater annually.