Senator Lea Webb Announces Over $5 Million in State Funding Awarded to Tompkins County to Improve Water Infrastructure and Protect Cayuga Lake

ITHACA, NY -  Today, Senator Lea Webb (SD52) announced that over $5 million in state funding has been awarded through the NYS DEC’s Water Quality Improvement Project to support critical infrastructure projects in the towns of Danby, Lansing, and Ulysses. 

 “Thanks to this funding, our local municipalities will be able to complete important water infrastructure projects to protect the long-term health of our watershed,” said Senator Lea Webb. “This funding will help protect water quality by improving catch basins and culverts in strategic locations and reducing phosphorus discharge into the lake, protecting against Harmful Algal Blooms. I applaud the partnerships between our state and federal government that make these projects possible. These grants include funds from the Environmental Protection Fund (EPF), which I was proud to support in last year’s state budget.” 

The Town of Danby will receive $4,587,272.00 to construct a sanitary sewer collection system and two package membrane bioreactor wastewater treatment plants for the Central and West Hamlet Centers to replace inadequate onsite septic systems. The project will reduce phosphorus entering Cayuga Lake.

The Town of Lansing will receive $325,000 to purchase a vacuum truck to remove debris from catch basins in Lansing, the Village of Cayuga Heights, and in Tompkins County. The vacuum truck will ensure that the catch basins will remain clear of debris and protect water quality.

The Town of Ulysses will receive $520,352.00 to replace an undersized culvert on Garrett Road with a new arch culvert with a natural channel bottom. The new culvert will reduce erosion, stabilize the streambank, and improve aquatic connectivity in the Cayuga Lake watershed.

These projects will protect the quality of our freshwater here in New York by reducing the amount of polluted stormwater runoff entering lakes, rivers, and streams. In addition, these projects will help mitigate against flooding and the impacts of climate change by increasing the resilience of our water infrastructure.  

Funding for these projects comes from the State’s Environmental Protection Fund (EPF), the Clean Water Infrastructure Act (CWIA), the Clean Water, Clean Air, Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act of 2022 (Bond Act), and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

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