Safeguarding Our Communities
Flood Control Management in Cattaraugus County
Discover how our flood control structures protect and enhance the lives of residents within the Allegheny River Watershed.
What we do...
The District provides technical and monitoring assistance to Cattaraugus County’s eleven flood control structures that protect many communities within the greater Allegheny River Basin. The USDA-Natural Resource Conservation Service (formerly Soil Conservation Service) built thousands of flood control structures throughout the United States in the 20th century to alleviate the threat of floodwaters to communities. In Cattaraugus County alone, 11 sites were chosen to build earthen flood control dams – 5 sites in the Conewango Creek Watershed in the western part of Cattaraugus County and 6 sites in the Ischua Creek Watershed in the east (plus a levy along Ischua Creek near Elm Street in the Village of Franklinville). Though the primary function of the structures is to impound potential floodwaters, Conewango Site #13 – New Albion Lake & Ischua Site 6A – Case Lake were built with sponsorship from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) to ensure multi-use recreational activities such as boating and fishing are available to constituents. Both lakes are stocked annually with trout by the NYSDEC and have launches available to deploy small boats (self-propelled or electric motors only). Case Lake even has a picnic area outfitted with a large playground for public use.
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