Cuyahoga River Watershed

The Cuyahoga River Watershed drains 813 square miles of land in Geauga, Portage, Summit, and Cuyahoga Counties. This watershed is divided into an Upper Section, Middle Section, and a Lower Section and includes more than thirty-seven plus named tributaries.

The Cuyahoga River Watershed begins in Geauga County with the West Branch and the East Branch in the Upper Section. The West Branch is considered a tributary and it consists of a wilderness of marshes and swamp forests. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources designates 25 miles of this Upper Section in Geauga and Portage Counties as a state scenic river

Over thirty-seven named tributaries, not including the unnamed streams, that makeup the natural network of the River System and travel 286 miles into the Cuyahoga. Of these, Tinkers Creek, being 28.2 miles long and draining an area 96.4 miles, is the longest tributary in the Watershed. The only tributary that runs past a rainforest is Big Creek, the most-heavily used of the gems in Cleveland Metro Park's emerald necklace. Some other tributaries are the Little Cuyahoga River, an urban river, and Breakneck Creek.

The Cuyahoga Remedial Action Plan process began in 1988 when the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency formed the Cuyahoga River RAP Coordinating Committee (CCC), consisting of 33 representatives from local, regional, state and federal agencies, private corporations, and citizen and environmental organizations. The mission of the RAP is to plan and promote the restoration and preservation of beneficial uses of the lower Cuyahoga River and near-shore Lake Erie through remediation of existing conditions and prevention of further pollution and degradation. Sources of water quality impairment have been identified and are being addressed through a variety of restoration activities.

A variety of research studies have been funded to promote understanding of water quality impairments and aid in the development and refinement of educational programs. Studies include navigation channel re-aeration feasibility, fish advisories, creel surveys, community preference polls, fish tissue, phytoplankton and larval fish studies, US Geological Survey bacterial studies and bioengineering projects.

While traveling from the Cuyahoga River's headwaters in Geauga County to its mouth in Cleveland, a wide variety of landscapes and a multitude of land uses can be observed. Lands in the upper reaches are primarily forests, wetlands, pasture, and crop land.

The Cuyahoga's lower river basin is one of the most densely populated and industrialized urban areas in North America. In 1999, substantial clean-up efforts were celebrated as to how much progress has been made since the passage of the Clean Water Act. A cleaner lower Cuyahoga has opened opportunities for riverbank parks and trails, protected natural areas, and entertainment districts.

A large tract of relatively undeveloped and scenic open space, the Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area is situated in the middle Cuyahoga, between Akron and Cleveland. Portions of the Cuyahoga River basin in the lower and middle reaches were included in two 1996 designations: the Ohio and Erie Canal Corridor was the nation's Seventh National Heritage Corridor and Ohio's first Scenic Byway. The CCBH has worked with the Cuyahoga RAP, communities and other organizations within this watershed to aid in the improvement of water quality. Through HSTS inspections, replacements and sanitary sewer installations, a large number of failing HSTS are no longer causing an impairment on this watershed. The CCBH also maintains a large educational outreach effort to residents of the watershed on HSTS concerns as well as storm water related issues.

Useful Information and Links

Subwatersheds
Big Creek Watershed
Mill Creek Watershed
West Creek Watershed
Euclid Creek Watershed
Tinkers Creek Watershed

Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District
Cleveland Metroparks

Cuyahoga River RAP