Up on Euclid Creek ... How Tearing Out Dams Can Improve the Water Quality in Our Rivers and Streams

Removal of small dam on Euclid Creek key to stream restoration, water quality

Monday, December 20, 2010

By Michael Scott, The Plain Dealer

Euclid -- News of another dam coming down in any one of Ohio's hundreds of streams is practically intoxicating for water quality proponents.

So they're partying now up on Euclid Creek -- although in moderation.

Workers with Great Lakes Construction this month ripped out a 40-foot wide, 6-foot high concrete barrier in the stream just below the Highland Road bridge near Euclid Creek Reservation.

That's reason enough for conservationists to celebrate.

"It's just great and shows how we have changed the way we look at the importance of free-flowing streams," said Kyle Dreyfuss-Wells of the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, which is supporting the project as a construction manager.

"Because we're so rich in water resources in our region, however, we have a lot of dams which essentially create what some call 'inline ponds' on our streams and that creates sediment accumulation problems upstream and erosion problems downstream."

But once a dam goes, fish can better migrate up a free-flowing stream, increasing the number of species traveling several miles from Lake Erie into the upper watershed, biologists say. That, in turn, increases recreational fishing opportunities and improves water quality.

"A free flowing Euclid Creek is really good for everyone," said Claire Posius of The Euclid Creek Watershed Council, a group which formed in 2002 to address flooding in the 24-square-mile area which drains into the creek."

But Euclid Creek isn't close to free flowing yet.

The sobering reality is that there are still five more dams left choking the creek --and it took half a decade and a the support of a dizzying mosaic of funding sources and partners to get this one $526,000 job done.

"That's true, it took about five years and five major funding sources just to get here," Posius said. "It's really tough to scrape together the money to do even just this one job and the remaining dams may each take five to seven years, though I think we can go much quicker."

A spillway under Interstate 90 would be the next likely target from an ecological -- though not an economic -- perspective, Posius said.

"Basically, they straightened out Euclid Creek there and stuck it under a highway," she said. "But it's also a job that will probably cost $2 million, so that's going to be a tough one from a cost standpoint."

Instead, watershed supporters are considering trying to put in a "fish ladder," or way for fish to get around the I-90 dam to get upstream.

But for now, their focus is the successful removal of the barrier known as the East Branch Dam under Highland Road.

'About $382,000 of the total cost is going to Great Lakes Construction for demolition of the dam and stream restoration. The remainder, about $145,000, went to Ohio architects Burgess & Niple for design and engineering.

Workers are now putting large rocks in the stream to direct stream flow away from the Highland Road bridge footers. The rocks will also slow down the water and provide places for fish to spawn and hide.

Workers will then plant native plants along the disturbed creek banks next spring.

'The 77-year-old barrier was originally put in to provide water for swimming at a YMCA camp, but is no longer necessary. Sediment has also built up behind the dam itself, further slowing stream flows.

The dams in Euclid Creek range from small dams built in the old mill days to others built as part of roadway improvement projects in the 1960's.

"It had its use in its day," Posius said. "But that hasn't been for about 50 years and it has instead caused problems for the environment."

Among them, are that most dammed streams in flood more easily during heavy rains or ice melt, river experts say.

"But slowly, with each dam removed, restoration is happening, Dreyfus-Wells said.

"We got into this position one dam at time," she said. "And we're going to get out one dam at a time."