How Buffalo resurrected its river

Shielded by wraparound sunglasses and a windbreaker against a gusty fall day, Jill Spisiak Jedlicka strides across a lawn toward New York’s Buffalo River.

The grass is part of a fresh public space called Buffalo River Fest Park. Ms. Jedlicka, executive director of the nonprofit Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper, looks around with justifiable pride. Volunteers she and other community leaders directed have planted basswood trees and dogwood shrubs along the shore.

Across the water stands a group of silos turned into a new recreation complex named RiverWorks – complete with waterside seating, docked tiki boats, and a zipline strung above. The scent of Lucky Charms, produced by General Mills along the river, suffuses the air. Signs advertise a brewery called Resurgence and a big regatta, both coming to the riverfront soon.

“In the summer there are traffic jams with all the different kinds of boats on the river,” Jedlicka says, still sounding amazed. “These are good problems to