Erie County Soil & Water Con

Erie County Soil & Water Conservation District, a tax-exempt nonprofit based in East Aurora, New York, receives federal grant funding as a prime recipient and sub-recipient to design and implement streambank stabilization, riparian restoration, and stormwater management projects in the Great Lakes watershed. The organization operates exclusively in the federal grant space — no contracts, no IDVs — and focuses on soil conservation and water quality improvement work in western New York counties bordering Lake Erie.

The vendor's customer base is concentrated among three federal agencies. The Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 has funded three awards totaling the majority of recent obligated dollars; the Department of Agriculture National Resources Conservation Service has placed two awards; and the Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service has placed one. All six awards in the source footprint are federal grants, with no contract prime or sub work present.

As a prime recipient, Erie County Soil & Water Conservation District received a $1.458 million Project Grant from EPA Region 5 under the Geographic Programs — Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (CFDA 66.469) in October 2024, with completion scheduled for December 31, 2027. The award funds mitigation of soil erosion and restoration of two streambanks along 1,900 linear feet of Cattaraugus Creek, which flows into Lake Erie, with anticipated reductions of 3,877 pounds of phosphorus, 7,752 pounds of nitrogen, and 3,877 tons of sediment over ten years, alongside installation of new riparian zone and in-stream fish habitat improvements. The vendor also received a prior EPA Region 5 Project Grant in October 2022 (completion May 31, 2025) to address stormwater runoff from Hyde Creek and Main Street Beach in Dunkirk through floodplain rehabilitation and an engineered wetland designed to capture and infiltrate 47 million gallons of stormwater annually; that award included a sub-award to Chautauqua County Soil & Water Conservation District for engineering services and materials procurement.

As a sub-recipient, Erie County Soil & Water Conservation District performed work under Great Lakes Commission grants in 2021 and 2023, implementing streambank stabilization, riparian buffer installation, and nutrient management planning across the Eighteenmile Creek and Buffalo Creek watersheds. Award activity is sparse and intermittent — one award per year across 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024 — with combined obligated dollars of $2.8 million across all six awards (prime and sub combined).