When: December 10 from 6:30pm - 8:30pm
Where: Beachwood Community Center, 25325 Fairmount Blvd Beachwood, Ohio 44122 map this
Cuyahoga Soil & Water Conservation District is updating the watershed management plan for the Euclid Creek watershed. The plan, called a Nonpoint Source Implementation Strategy (NPS-IS for short) will formally identify causes and sources of water quality and habitat degradation in the watershed and recommend overall strategies and specific projects to address these issues.
As part of the process for developing these plans, we are holding public Open House events. The purpose of these meetings is to both explain the process to the community, and to gather information and ideas from the community about the watershed.
This open house at Beachwood Community Center is on December 10th from 6:30-8:30pm.
Cuyahoga SWCD is working to get the Euclid Creek Nine-Element Nonpoint Source Implementation Strategic Plan up to date.
Version 1.1 of the plan is available online: https://epa.ohio.gov/Portals/35/nps/319docs/Euclid%20Creek_Ver1.1_7-13-2018.pdf
As part of the effort to update the plan, new critical areas and projects to address critical areas need to be defined for the watershed. These critical areas focus on nonpoint source watershed issues that have common solutions.
The critical areas identified so far include:
- Fish Passage Barriers – Dams, culverted/piped stream areas, drops at culvert ends
- Large Impervious Areas - large parking lots and buildings
- Hydromodification/Habitat Modification – areas experiencing elevated levels of erosion, sedimentation, channelization, disconnection from floodplain
- Deforested Riparian Zones – riparian zones* lacking forest and shrub canopy
- Directly Connected Impervious Areas – parking lots and buildings within the riparian zone*
- Preservation Opportunities – greenspace, wetlands, and riparian areas that are currently unprotected
*Suggested Riparian Zone Widths:
- A minimum of 120 feet on either side of all watercourses draining an area greater than 20 square miles and up to 300 square miles.
- A minimum of 75 feet on either side of all watercourses draining an area greater than ½ square mile and up to 20 square miles. (Most of Euclid Creek)
- A minimum of 25 feet on either side of all watercourses draining an area less than ½ square mile and having a defined bed and bank.
If there are opportunities or locations for projects that address the above critical areas or other critical areas in the watershed you think should be included in the plan, please email them to ehiser@cuyahogaswcd.org or fill them out on the back of this sheet and return to Elizabeth Hiser, 3311 Perkins Suite 100, Cleveland Ohio 44114.
Channelization: Straightening of a stream channel to prevent it from getting out onto the floodplain.
Floodplain: an area of low-lying ground adjacent to a river, formed mainly of river sediments and subject to flooding.
Nonpoint Source: a source of pollution that issues from widely distributed or pervasive environmental elements. (not from a pipe)
Riparian: A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream.