Removing Impediments and Impervious Surfaces to Benefit Fish and People
EUCLID CREEK SPILLWAY AT EUCLID CREEK WATERSHED IN CLEVELAND, OHIO
AND THE CUYAHOGA RIVER AREA OF CONCERN
Removing impervious surfaces and impediments to fish passage in Euclid Creek will contribute to improving the local ecosystem, removing the Cuyahoga River as toxic hotspot, and restoring Lake Erie.
As early as 1922, the Euclid Creek Watershed, near Cleveland, caught the attention of scientists due to its raw sewage contamination, which caused high concentrations of disease-causing bacteria like fecal coliform. Decades of industrial pollution and sewage overflows during large rain events heavily impaired the watershed and Lake Erie and led to excessive organic matter, as well as high levels of both nutrients and disease-causing bacteria. To this day, beaches are sometimes closed to swimmers.
The Euclid Creek Spillway is also part of the Cuyahoga Area of Concern—one of the Great Lakes region’s 43 most contaminated sites, as established in 1987 between the U.S. and Canada’s Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement.
Now, with funding from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI), the Euclid Creek Spillway will be able to see some improvements. Currently, the project is in the design phase, which will determine the best way to remove impediments to fish passage and impervious surfaces—hard surfaces like asphalt that prevent or hinder the infiltration of water into the ground. After that, the partners aim to request further GLRI funds to fund the necessary construction work.
“We don’t own these streams, but we have responsibility for them,” said Frank Greenland, director of watershed programs for the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District. “These federal programs are important to get these projects off the ground and get our streams restored.”
Resource Challenges Addressed
Loss of fish and wildlife habitat
Degradation of fish and wildlife population
Degradation of benthos, water quality, recreation
Key Partners
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office
Cost
$400,000
Results and Accomplishments
GLRI funding is helping chart a roadmap to restore three miles of fishery access and 1,000 linear feet of riparian habitat along Euclid Creek, restoring the ecosystem and helping remove the Cuyahoga River Area of Concern as a toxic hot-spot.
*This story is part of a GLRI success story packet that was used in the Coalition’s 2023 Great Lakes Days, with one story from each state in the region. Read the full packet
FISH PASSAGE
The removal of impediments to fish passage, such as dams, will allow for fish to more easily pass through Euclid Creek. This work has already happened in various parts of the Cuyahoga, including Baldwin Creek, pictured above.
Credit: Soil and Water Conservation District
