water

Euclid Creek Watershed - 2016 Annual Summary

2016 was another busy and fun year in the Euclid Creek Watershed. Restoration work started on the largest restoration project in the upper watershed to date at Acacia Reservation in Lyndhurst. Cleveland Metroparks hired Biohabitats and Meadville Construction to implement the $1.9 million stream restoration, daylighting and wetland drainage swale project on the Main Branch of Euclid Creek at the former golf course.

We continue to apply for grants to fund restoration projects, and recently submitted our first proposal for a restoration project in Lake County! This stream restoration project behind the Willoughby-Eastlake School of Innovation in Willoughby Hills would make a great collaboration and land lab for the students.

Monitoring continues on completed watershed projects to ensure project success - from restoration monitoring at the Lacustrine Wetland and Stream Restoration project at Wildwood Park, to invasive plant management at several conserved properties in Richmond Heights. Each year it is confirmed that stream restoration projects don’t just end once the construction is done as is evident from a grant we received from Dominion and Western Reserve Land Conservancy to conduct an ecological management plan on our conserved Dusty Goldenrod site in Highland Heights. The management plan will layout steps for best protecting the state endangered plant located on the property and any management actions needed.

Other program highlights include:

  • Watershed Coordinator facilitated Euclid Creek Watershed Council meetings and meetings of its Committees (PIPE, Technical Committee, Volunteer Monitoring) and organized the 2ndAnnual Watershed Summit (52 attendees October 6)
  • Technical Assistance - Provided assistance to 11 residents (calls) and performed 4 technical assistance site visits; General rain barrel ordinance assistance to 1 community
  • Provided stormwater regulation guidance to five watershed communities
  • City of Euclid / Green Creek Watershed Riparian Planting - Alliance for the Great Lakes / Royal Bank of Canada grant – facilitated riparian planting with Euclid High School in Green Creek 11/3 – also assisted with Ecological Inventory initiative through Bluestone Heights’ Roy Larick
  • Targeted Riparian Mailing - Life at the Waters Edge #1 – sent to all 1,500 riparian property owners in Euclid Creek (1st targeted watershed program outreach effort – now annual effort)
  • Park Cleanups – Organized 4 cleanups in watershed
  • Pollinator Garden - Installed 1 garden with girl scouts
  • Day in the Life of Euclid Creek Event held and attended multiple planning meetings and site visits (3) held to coordinate and make successful – 121 people participated in event
  • Watershed Presentations - to 2 community groups
  • Watershed Signage – fabricated signs for four tributaries in Richmond Heights
  • Rain Barrel workshops – held 4 (1 with compost seminar)
  • Green Cleaning for inside and out workshops – 1 workshops held
  • Watershed Display – participated in 4 community events
  • Monthly Eblasts to EC Distribution list
  • Stormwater Education materials delivered to ECWC communities 3 times throughout year
  • Newsletter - 3 Watershed Program newsletters written/published – Working on Winter Newsletter now
  • Blog – wrote articles for website blog post
  • Volunteer Monitors monitored 6 sites monthly in Euclid Creek
  • Friends of Euclid Creek 15 year Anniversary – organized 15 miles of hikes to celebrate throughout the watershed

892 volunteers contributed a total of 2,006 hours of time to the Euclid Creek Watershed program installing trees and native plants, pulling invasives, water quality monitoring, attending watershed meetings, tabling events, etc.! This is a monetary value of $47,273 to the program!

An important initiative for 2017 is an update to the Euclid Creek Watershed Action Plan which is not called a Nonpoint Source Implementation Strategy – an important document to update as required for state and federal EPA funding.

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