A park along the Buffalo River is growing. County officials maintain the addition to Seneca Bluffs Natural Habitat Park will boost efforts to improve water quality along the Buffalo River.
The additional 10 acres of greenspace "is going to provide a buffer for any kind of storm water," said Thomas Hersey, Erie County's Commissioner of Environment and Planning.
"We're also enhancing wetlands and other things along the shoreline that help improve water quality."
The space near Seneca and Elk Streets in Buffalo once featured industrial space.
"A lot of it had been bulk-headed with different industry and docks and those kinds of things. The river had become very channelized and bulk-headed with no natural shorelines and no opportunity for people to access the river.," said Hersey, who added that reality will now change. Shorelines are being developed with the goal of allowing access to a waterway that is fast becoming a favorite for local kayakers and other recreational users.
Seneca Bluffs is one of the county's three such natural habitat parks along the river.