Who Is Responsible?
At the same time that we are talking about the beauty of the Buffalo Japanese Gardens, we are also faced with the ongoing problem of the unsightly state of nearby water sources. Last evening I received an email from a friend who wanted to know what she could do about cleaning up the garbage in Hoyt Lake. I would think that with Buffalo Homecoming approaching, The City might consider taking additional measures to solve the problem. Of course there are deeper environmental problems other than the visible garbage, but the process has got to start somewhere. From Mimi:
Ever since the big windstorm in the middle of the winter, I have been distressed about Hoyt Lake where I walk my dog daily. After the storm I noticed a huge island of garbage in the middle of the lake: sticks, plastic bottles, paper, paper cartons, glass containers, pieces of Styrofoam, cups and lids. This garbage had come from the area of water on the other side of the causeway, which, for years, has been filled with refuse and scum that collects next to a grate. The windstorm caused the causeway to flood and garbage to float over on the flood into the lake.
In the months since the storm, the island of trash has dispersed to smaller collections of trash on the north side of the lake. Algae blooms that edge the lake confirm that this trash is causing pollution. Recently someone wrote in chalk on the causeway, ”Can’t you smell the stink?”
I have heard conflicting reports about how this problem should be addressed. Olmsted Parks says that The City should deal with it, and the city that Olmsted Parks is responsible for the clean up. Who is responsible and how can we get the trash cleaned up? My husband and I had thought of inviting The Mayor for lunch at Hoyt Lake and walking him around it as he munched his sandwich (we won a lunch with him at an auction and this seemed a good way to get his attention). The current problem is only an extension of on-going pollution in the lake.
Please let me know how I can ensure the clean up of this wonderful resource in Delaware Park.
-Mimi
As a side, I recently heard that there is a plan to reconnect the Albright-Knox Art Gallery with Hoyt Lake. At one time, long ago, the steps from the gallery led all the way down to the lake. You can still visualize how it would have looked. Though the details have not been released, I heard that there might be some sort of brick or cobblestone connection that would bridge the two sets of steps. That would create a traffic slowdown and act as an attractive pathway from the gallery to the lake.
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onestarmartin
Delaware Park could be the crown jewel of Buffalo as it should be. As pleasant as it is, at the moment it is a under managed, under funded Park that the County, the City and the Olmsted Parks System should manage, work on, fund and beautify as a team. The fact that the lake is in the condition it is , well, it's a joke. The old casino building is under utilized at the moment and has been for years. That building could be a cash cow for the park towards raising money for beautification and up-keep/up-grading of the park..
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sbrof
While the lake edge has changed a lot, most notably on the eastern edge, I don't think it ever reached the ABK. Remember the images of the Gala waters and the band pavilion and the casino has always been where it is. So maye it was a little closer there the man made wall it but certainly not right to the stairs.
Who knows who is responsible for the creek. It is in the Olmsted parks but it (the Scajaquada creek) is really nothing more than another sewer pipe which is why it collects such grossness. Ideally they would BOTH step up and say we should both set a time and date and clean it up. Get it done and do that on a regular basis. No one wants to deal with it but it is certainly something in both people's best interests to fix.
Then again cleaning it up is only lipstick on a pig. Until the sewage and creek can be separated from the sewer system as a whole it isn't solving the main problem just a maintenance nightmare. What the city, use residents and olmsted should do is lobby and either get the city to fork over some money or the state to pitch in to fix the problem and give the creek back to nature and stop our toilets from flushing into it. Once that is done nature will take its course and slowly clean it up to a point where the lake could be reconnected to the creek.
The lake has no fresh water sources which has caused it to stagnate (algae blooms etc). It also would mean the all those potentially great places downstream could become nice parks on the creekside. Nothing meaningful can be done until the sewer issues are resolved.
Mimi I think you should have your lunch, and bring him right to the top of the grate. People who don't see the problem don't do anything about it.
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musicmanbflo
I also walk the lake nearly everyday - the eastern end is downright putrid. The problems began when the Scajaquada was excavated and some of the 'fill' dumped into the eastern end of the lake, reducing its size by nearly a third. Further ecological damage occured when the lower end was cut off from the creek by the broad walking path/road that now separates the two. With no real current flowing through, it's become a rotting mess.
A longterm solution is needed, obviously; but in the meanwhile I think it only logical that someone from the Olmstead group or the City get their butt in a rowboat and clean up the shorlines. Some initial cleanup was accomplished last month, but this needs weekly tending so that Hoyt Lake is once again worthy of the original name 'Gala Waters'.
A plan of the original size and shape of the Lake is on display in the Grosvener Room at the downtown library, just inside the door on a table to the right. It's quite shocking to see how this once elegant waterway has been reduced over the years to its present stagnant state.
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Chris
Once again worthy of the original name 'Gala Waters'? When was it ever? My understanding is that the problems with the lake date back to it's original construction. The diversion of Scajaquada Creek was a partially successful attempt to keep Cheektowaga sewage out.
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Keith
Clean it yourselves. Seriously. Buffalo will not get fixed by waiting for the government to do it.
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mbhxam
Stagnant...like the current politician who shares the same name...
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sbrof
"'Gala Waters'? When was it ever? "
Before it was used as a sewer overflow. http://www.olmstedinbuffalo.org/
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sonyactivision
Delaware Park needs an endowment like Central and Prospect Parks in NYC. Maybe there is and I'm unaware of it, but such an endowment could allow ordinary citizens to participate in it's upkeep if only with their checkbooks.
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sbrof
well the Olmsted parks conservancy I feel would be more than willing to put your money specifically into any park or space as donor would want it so I might not be an endowment but people should feel confident it will go to good use.
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