Flood-mitigation project on Sauquoit Creek in Mohawk Valley set to begin

WHITESTOWN, N.Y. — New York State and the Town of Whitestown will start construction this month on a $3.9 million flood-mitigation project to bolster resilience and improve habitats along the Sauquoit Creek.

The project will create a new 12-acre floodplain bench — with plantings, stream-bank stabilization, and erosion and sediment-control facilities — and install five, 48-inch diameter culverts under the CSX Railroad embankment, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Friday.

 The project, located on the west side of Sauquoit Creek north of Main Street, results from a collaboration between the state and local governments that, when finished, will yield a “more resilient infrastructure to better protect against severe weather events,” the state contends in a release. It will reduce flood-water elevations and increase water flow from the Sauquoit Creek to the Mohawk River, mitigating future flood risk.

The project is being administered by the Town of Whitestown with funding support from the state departments of Transportation, Environmental Conservation, Environmental Facilities Corporation, and the Dormitory Authority of New York State.

 This area of Oneida County has faced five severe and recurring flooding events over the past decade including, most recently, the October 2019 Halloween Storm in which emergency services had to conduct multiple rescues and nearly 200 properties sustained damages. This project complements the previous completion of two floodplain benches in the fall of 2020 in the area of Dunham Manor Park and an agreement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service in September 2020 to pursue a voluntary buy-out program for flood-impacted homes.