Buffalo Metropolitan Area, New York. Water Resources Management Interim Report Feasibility of Flood Management, Tonawanda Creek Watershed

Book excerpt: This final feasibility report on the Tonawanda Creek Watershed is an interim reply to the study authorization which requested determination of the feasibility of providing flood protection in the Buffalo Metropolitan Area, N.Y. The study area is located in Western New York State and includes an area of 511 square miles. The existing flooding problem causes nearly $3.0 million in average annual damages to existing urban and agricultural development. A wide range of alternative plans were investigated as solutions to the flooding problem including non-structural and structural. The plans were evaluated for engineering, economic, and environmental feasibility. The Batavia Reservoir Compound-Modified Plan was selected as the Recommended Plan. This plan is described as the shallow (normally dry) detention reservoir upstream of Batavia that act as flood alternators and provides 1-10 year flood protection in the lower reservoir, 500-year flood protection in the lower portion of the Erie Plain floodland (including the city of Batavia) and 1-10 year protection in the Huron Plain floodland downstream. This plan reduces the existing average annual flood damages by approximately 74 percent. The total first cost is $2.9 million at October 1982 price levels with a benefit-cost ratio of 1.19 to 1.0. This plan is designated the NED plan. (Author).