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Ellicott Creek, New York

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Ellicott Creek, New York Intended for New York State Department of Environmental Conservation 625 Broadway Albany, New York 12233 Document type Final Report Date June 2021 RESILIENT NEW YORK FLOOD MITIGATION INITIATIVE ELLICOTT CREEK, NEW YORK Prepared for: 1 ~ EWYORK Department of wvoRK Office of !:i1Al t tJI I ~ rar L_,. tir.-.=ul#..., Env1ro11mll!ntal oro.,-d~TI' General Services ' h-- Cor:i.serva'tion Project Team: GoMEZAND SULLIVAN HIGHLAND E GINEERS PLANNING IN NOVEMBER 2018, NEW YORK STATE GOVERNOR ANDREW CUOMO COMMITTED FUNDING TO UNDERTAKE ADVANCED MODELING TECHNIQUES AND FIELD ASSESSMENTS OF 48 FLOOD- PRONE STREAMS TO IDENTIFY PRIORITY PROJECTS AND ACTIONS TO REDUCE COMMUNITY FLOOD AND ICE JAM RISKS, WHILE IMPROVING HABITAT. THE OVERALL GOAL OF THE PROGRAM IS TO MAKE NEW YORK STATE MORE RESILIENT TO FUTURE FLOODING. This copyrighted material represents the proprietary work product of Gomez and Sullivan Engineers, D.P.C. This material was prepared for the specific purpose of securing a contract with the above client. No other use, reproduction, or distribution of this material or of the approaches it contains, is authorized without the prior express written consent of Gomez and Sullivan Engineers, D.P.C. However, the recipient may make as many copies of this document as deemed necessary for the sole purpose of evaluating this document for final selection and award. Gomez and Sullivan Engineers, D.P.C. © 2021 All Rights Reserved RESILIENT NEW YORK FLOOD MITIGATION INITIATIVE TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ....................................................................................................................................1 Historical Initiatives ...................................................................................................................1 Floodplain Development ............................................................................................................1 Resilient NY Initiative ...............................................................................................................2 Data Collection ...............................................................................................................................4 Initial Data Collection ................................................................................................................4 Public Outreach ..........................................................................................................................4 Field Assessment .......................................................................................................................5 Watershed Characteristics ............................................................................................................6 Study Area .................................................................................................................................6 Environmental Conditions .................................................................................................10 Floodplain Location...........................................................................................................14 Study Area Land Use ...............................................................................................................17 Geomorphology .......................................................................................................................17 Hydrology ................................................................................................................................20 Infrastructure ............................................................................................................................24 Climate Change Implications......................................................................................................33 Future Projected Stream Flow in Ellicott Creek ......................................................................33 Flooding Characteristics .............................................................................................................35 Flooding History ......................................................................................................................35 Flood Risk Assessment ................................................................................................................38 Flood Mitigation Analysis .......................................................................................................38 Methodology of HEC-RAS Model Development ................................................................38 Cost Estimate Analysis ............................................................................................................40 Ice Jam Formation....................................................................................................................41 Ice-Jam Flooding Mitigation Alternatives .........................................................................41 Ice-Jam Prone Areas..........................................................................................................42 High Risk Areas .......................................................................................................................42 High Risk Area #1: Main Street (Route 5) to NYS Thruway (I-90) (Station 0+00 to 77+71) .........................................................................................................................42 High Risk Area #2: Greater Buffalo International Airport Runway to Genesee Street (Station 141+34 to 262+71) ........................................................................................45 High Risk Area #3: Stoney Road in The Town of Lancaster (Station 458+18 to 566+04) ......................................................................................................................................48 Ellicott Creek Final Report 8 GoMEZAND SULLIVAN June 2021 ENGINEERS i RESILIENT NEW YORK FLOOD MITIGATION INITIATIVE Mitigation Alternatives ................................................................................................................51 High Risk Area #1: Main Street (Route 5) to NYS Thruway (I-90) (Station 0+00 to 77+71)52 Alternative #1-1: Modify Wehrle Drive Bridge (Station 57+90).......................................52 Alternative #1-2: Flood Bench Creation Between Island Park and Wehrle Drive (Station 14+75 to 33+62) ..........................................................................................................55 Alternative #1-3: Modify Wehrle Drive Bridge and Flood Bench Creation Between Island Park and Wehrle Drive (Station 14+75 to 57+90) ......................................................58 High Risk Area #2: Upstream of Greater Buffalo International Airport (Station 141+34 to 262+71) ..............................................................................................................................61 Alternative #2-1: Modify Railroad Bridge (Station 197+31) ............................................61 Alternative #2-2: Flood Bench Creation Between Rein and Transit Roads (Station 198+65 to 217+23) ......................................................................................................64 Alternative #2-3: Flood Bench Creation Between Transit Road and Main Street (Bowmansville) (Station 237+86 to 257+95) ..............................................................67 Alternative #2-4: Modify Airport Runway Culverts (Station 116+70) ..............................70 High Risk Area #3: Stoney Road in The Town of Lancaster (Station 458+18 to 566+04) .....72 Alternative #3-1: Flood Bench Creation Between Harris Hill and Stoney Roads (Station 287+69 to 490+90) ......................................................................................................72 Alternative #3-2: Flood Bench Creation Between Stoney and Pavement Roads (Station 514+81 to 565+53) ......................................................................................................75 Basin-wide Mitigation Alternatives ............................................................................................78 Alternative #4-1: Early Warning Flood Detection System ......................................................78 Alternative #4-2: Debris Maintenance around Bridges/Culverts.............................................79 Alternative #4-3: Flood Buyout Programs ...............................................................................80 Alternative #4-4: Floodproofing ..............................................................................................83 Interior Modification/Retrofit Measures............................................................................83 Dry floodproofing ..............................................................................................................84 Wet floodproofing ..............................................................................................................84 Barrier Measures ...............................................................................................................85 Alternative #4-5: Area Preservation / Floodplain Ordinances .................................................86 Alternative #4-6: Ice Management ..........................................................................................87 Next Steps .....................................................................................................................................88 Additional Data Modeling .......................................................................................................88
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