WHITNEY POINT, N.Y. -- It took 12 years and millions of dollars, but the Whitney Point Lake restoration project is finally complete.

"I'll have to admit that I did think it took a little long, but when you see the final result, it is truly amazing," Broome County Executive Barbara Fiala said during a ceremony Thursday.

An intergovernmental collaboration, the project brought improvement both environmentally and recreationally: better water flow management and use, wetland development, a boat launch, lifeguard stations, and, yes, even new bathrooms.

"Environmentally, this is a beautiful project for a beautiful surrounding and for the residents of Broome County and for those downstream who will be doing their fishing and obviously toilets that flush, we take that lightly, but it's an important thing," said Tom Libous, Binghamton's Republican state senator.

And the project may have some unintended benefits, including built-in revenue streams.

"So I think there's an argument to be made that because of the improvements and because people are vacationing closer to home, the revenue may come in sooner rather than later," said Paul Swartz, executive director of the Susquehanna River Basin Commission.

Organizers say having more people come to the area, that's going to help make up for the more than $7 million spent on this project. And the environmental improvements? That will have huge impacts all the way down to the Chesapeake Bay.

"The Susquehanna River Basin provides about 51 percent of the flow into the Chesapeake Bay. If you hear about the bay and its degradation and the important thing is to reduce nutrients and sediments, a project like this helps reduce erosion and maintain the natural environment," said Col. Peter Mueller, from the Army Corps of Engineers.

The ACE will continue to monitor the project to gauge its success.

The bulk of the funds for this project came from state and federal coffers, including the Environmental Bonding Act, which was passed several years ago.