Underwater Fish Habitat Enhancement in the Upper Niagara River!

The New York Power Authority has announced that work has been completed on placing four artificial reefs between the Grand Island and Tonawanda shorelines. The projects are located upstream and downstream of the south Grand Island bridges, off the west shore of Motor Island and off Gratwick Park in North Tonawanda. They are outside of commercial shipping channels and will be monitored with underwater cameras. Populations of various species of fish, including muskellunge, walleye, northern pike and large-and small-mouth bass, are expected to be able to use the structures as areas for safe rest and to forage. This attempt to enhance the Niagara River's ecosystem is the result of terms within the power authoritie's recent 50-year re-license agreement which requires the authority to provide money to local not-for-profits and governments for various greenway projects. Other planned habitat improvement projects include restoration of Strawberry Island and wetlands restoration at Beaver Island State Park.

Wildlife Discovery on Scajaquada Creek!

Our dear Scajaquada Creek suprised us again when a rumored mammalian predator made a smashing appearance on camera. The celebrity mammal was showing off for three Riverkeeper staff as we paddled the creek collecting water samples.



Can ya see her? There on the rock, posing for the field guide description of her kind as "Sleek-bodied with lustrous fur"? Take a closer look!






She's a Mink, Mustela vison, little cousin to the otter. We busted her playing, swimming around in gleeful spirals in the middle of the creek, but she spied our boats and lept ashore. She's a high-octane little predator, eating anything she can catch on land or sea, and it's a good sign for the health of Scajaquada that she has chosen to live here. We've seen blurry tracks in the past year that gave hints, clues, and hopes, but now it's confirmed: Scaj is home to a new wild creature. Welcome Mink!

Waterchestnut Madness

Undaunted by a late morning downpour, Riverkeeper volunteers joined forces with US Fish & Wildlife Service, Army Corps of Engineers and NYS Parks to stage a search and destroy mission on Tonawanda Creek. Massive flotillas of aggressively invasive, aquatic waterchestnut plants are colonizing the calm channel around Ellicott Island. The crew sought to eradicate the plants before they go to seed. Despite a full morning's labor, half of the channel yet remains to be cleared.


Riverwatch Captain Tom shows off a canoeload of waterchestnut pulled from Tonawanda Creek. The plant must be carefully removed by reaching underwater and pulling the roots out of the muck to avoid breaking off just the floating portion.


Plant material was weighed in order to track and document the group's efforts.

Paul takes a breather while overlooking a great big bin o' waterchestnut.

The plants were barged to shore by a variety of paddle craft and motor boats.

Riverwatch Captain Mike masterminded the operation.

We'll need more help in two weeks to completely clear the channel!! Volunteers on shore and on the water (with paddle craft or small power boats) are welcomed. Stay tuned for a date and time, or contact the Riverkeeeper office for more info.

Waterchestnut in Tonawanda Creek

Just wanted to alert everyone to a "new" aquatic invasive plant in this area. Waterchestnut (Trapa natans) has been quite a problem in parts of the northeast (especially Lake Champlain and the Erie Canal near Syracuse). On June 26th, we were conducting a fish survey when one of our technicians, Denise Clay, spotted what she thought was waterchestnut. We went back to take a look and sure enough, there were about 3 or 4 single plants located at the north tip of Ellicott Creek Island. (This is a closeup of a few "rosettes" of waterchestnut taken from the creek).:

This was quite a surprise since the closest known population (in the Canal System) prior to that was in central NY, near Montezuma. The major problem with this plant is it's ability to choke off a waterway, making canoeing, kayaking, fishing, and other recreational activities virtually impossible. Eric Snyder and I then went out a few days later in one of our canoes and found out that the plant is solidly established behind Ellicott Creek Island. Here's Eric with a handful of the plant with the backwater area in the background:

We found it scattered throughout the entire backwater area behind the island. Some colonies are close to 30 feet in diameter. We're hoping to schedule a "pulling day" in the very near future to try and remove the visible plants and get rid of some of the seed bank (seeds can lay dormant for years so it's good to get plants out of there for that reason alone). Meanwhile, if anyone happens to find this plant locally, please let me know. We're planning to survey a few more places along the creek this week to see if its found anywhere else.