Departments

Attention: SN Members

FEMA RiskMap Survey of Cattaraugus Creek

Photo: The beautiful Cattaraugus Creek | Photo credit: Tami Watt

The Seneca Nation Emergency Management Department during the summer/fall of 2021, will be assisting in the coordination of an engineering analysis and flood plain mapping of the Cattaraugus Creek within the Seneca Nation, Cattaraugus Territory. This project is an ongoing effort to supplement the Seneca Nation, 1988 Flood Damage Ordinance. This project is funded by the United States- Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Risk Analysis Branch-Region II to perform a RiskMAP Survey of the Cattaraugus Creek. The mapping survey is part of the Chautauqua County RiskMAP/STARR survey of land that sits adjacent to the Seneca Nation Territory. This portion of the actual survey will be conducted on the approximate three-mile stretch of Cattaraugus Creek stretching from the mouth of Creek on Lake Erie back inland.

The professional civilian land surveyors, Gayron de Bruin Land Surveying and Engineering PC based from Honeoye Falls, N.Y. will be the primary working survey crew, contracted by FEMA. The work conducted by the team will provide Seneca Nation with updated Base Flood Elevation information, a revised floodplain mapping profile, updated Flood Insurance Risk Maps (FIRM’s) and current engineering tools for multiple uses.

The survey crew will make every effort to restrict their movements from local points of access and general confines of the creek and the surrounding floodplains and banks. On occasion, surveyors may need permission to encroach on surrounding properties for brief periods of time in order to obtain accurate measurements. It should be noted that at certain points, these individuals may well have to enter the creek itself in order to conduct the depth profile surveys.

Further, a professor and student from the Rochester Institute of Technology and possibly two student interns from the University of Buffalo may also be present on Territory during these mapping surveys, assisting the survey crew and Seneca Nation Emergency Management in this work.

Every person involved in the project shall be able to identify themselves with a driver’s license or ID as well as produce a letter of agreement from Seneca Nation Presidents Office to be engaged in this project. Survey teams and college personnel alike will be using various equipment in the field; handheld tripods/cameras, survey theodolite, pole-mounted target reflectors, drone and personal computers.

PROJECT CONTACT:
Michael Gates
Director, Seneca Nation Emergency Management
716-244-0820

Project Tentative Schedule for the survey: TBD (at this point no details have been shared)

Key Agency Contacts outside of Seneca Nation:

Patrick Dobbs, Project Lead, Atkins, Stantec & Dewberry (FEMA Study Contractor)
Ph: 615-794-1524

Scott Smith, Branch Manager, Gayron de Bruin Land Surveying & Engineering
Ph: 585-484-8100

Shudipto Rahman, Civil Engineer, FEMA Region II Project Coordinator
Ph: 202-702-4273

Professor Karl Korfmacher, Rochester Institute of Technology
Ph: 585-475-5554

Chris Renschler, Assistant Professor, University of Buffalo Geography Department
Ph: 716-645-0480