Mill Creek Watershed

Mill Creek is a small urban watershed in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. The watershed drains storm water to the creek from approximately 19 square miles and includes parts of nine local jurisdictions. The waters that create Mill Creek originate in the cities of Shaker Heights and Beachwood and flow southwest for 12.2 miles before discharging into the Cuyahoga River in Cuyahoga Heights. Along the way, five tributaries feed the main creek. From beginning to end the creek drops steeply, with an average descent of 53.5 feet per mile, as Busby Brook, Wolf Creek, and the Johnston Parkway, Warner Road and Mapletown Branches make their contributions. The geology of the Mill Creek watershed helps to shape its form and function.

Dense soil layers below the surface keep water from filtering down. At the same time, looser surface soils erode easily. These characteristics mean that large amounts of storm water move quickly across the land and into the creek, carrying sediment, eroding channels and flooding basements.

Currently, the Cuyahoga County Board of Health is the lead agency on a number of projects in the Mill Creek Watershed.

1. The first was the development of a Watershed Comprehensive Community Assessment. This assessment was a data gathering project that allowed for the accumulation of all known water quality data on the Mill Creek Watershed. This project was funded through an ODNR Coastal Grant, with further funding by the Cuyahoga County Board of Health and the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD). For more information on this project and a copy of the final report, please click here.
2. The second is the development of a Watershed Action Plan for this area. This plan will provide detailed information on watershed planning activities that are needed to bring the creek back into EPA attainment levels. This project is a continuation of the Community Assessment Plan and is also being funded by an ODNR Coastal Grant. This project is collaboratively being worked by the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD) and the Cuyahoga River RAP. For more information on this project please click here.
3. The third is a stream restoration project that will target a tributary of the Mill Creek located at the Highland Park Golf Course in Highland Hills, Ohio. This tributary has been dramatically affected by stormwater runoff. The plan for this project is to lessen the effects of the stormwater runoff and provide some relief that will lessen the severe erosion and incising of the stream corridor. This project is being funded by a Section 319 grant from the Ohio EPA, the City of Cleveland, the NEORSD and the Cuyahoga County Board of Health. For more information on this project, please click here.
   

Useful Information and Links
Cuyahoga River RAP
Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District
Cleveland Metroparks
Mill Creek Watershed brochure