The Coastal Management Program As stewards of Erie’s coastal resources, we will attain and sustain a healthy coast by balancing its use and preservation.

The Cuyahoga County Board of Health The Cuyahoga County Board of Health is a general health district that administers and enforces, within its health jurisdiction, all public health and sanitation laws of the State of Ohio. The general health district is comprised of 35 cities and 21 villages and townships, representing nearly 830,000 residents. The Board of Health offers community based programs that enable residents of the district to live in a healthy, environmentally safe community.

Cuyahoga County General Health District Protecting Public Health &

Bay Village Heights Maple Heights Parma Heights providing the leadership Beachwood Cuyahoga Heights Mayfield Heights Pepper Pike Bedford East Cleveland Mayfield Village Richmond Heights to improve and protect Bedford Heights Euclid Middleburg Heights Rocky River Berea Fairview Park Moreland Hills Seven Hills the water quality Bentleyville Garfield Heights Newburgh Heights Solon Bratenahl Gates Mills North Olmsted South Euclid throughout Brecksville Glenwillow North Randall Strongsville Broadview Heights Highland Heights North Royalton University Heights Cuyahoga County Brook Park Highland Hills Oakwood Village Valley View Brooklyn Hunting Valley Olmsted Falls Walton Hills and . Brooklyn Heights Independence Olmsted Township Warrensville Heights Chagrin Falls Township Linndale Orange Village Westlake Chagrin Falls Village Lyndhurst Parma Woodmere

Contact Information

Cuyahoga County Board of Health Cuyahoga County 1375 Euclid Avenue, Suite 524 Soil and Water Conservation District Cleveland, Ohio 44115 6100 West Canal Road 216-443-7520 Cleveland, Ohio 44125 216-443-7537 216-524-6580 www.CCBH.net [email protected] Ohio Department of Natural Resources Cuyahoga County Board of Health Office of Coastal Management Coastal Nonpoint Pollution The Watershed Partners, Inc. 105 West Shoreline Drive 4145 Erie Street, Suite 203 Sandusky, Ohio 44870 Control Program Grant Willoughby, Ohio 44094 419-626-7980 440-975-3870 www.crwp.org [email protected]

The printing of this document was partially funded by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Ohio Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Program. Wetlands and Riparian Areas 3. Use watershed-based nonpoint-source (NPS) 1. Protect and preserve existing wetlands. information as an interdisciplinary theme in formal and informal educational settings. 2. Restore degraded wetlands and construct new ones. 4. Provide local groups with the tools and resources needed to educate local citizens about NPS Critical Coastal Areas and pollution. Impaired or Threatened Waters 5. Provide information on the economic, health and 1. Enhance existing programs including: Ohio’s social benefits of protecting water resources as Coastal Consistency, Submerged Lands Lease, an incentive for action. Section 401 Water Quality Certification and Antidegradation, and No Discharge Zones. 6. Develop a statewide strategy for delivering NPS pollution messages and involving local businesses in 2. Incorporate a better understanding of river form providing marketing assistance for local initiatives. and process into water resources protection strategies. 7. Provide consistent NPS pollution messages to various media organizations and promote the The Cuyahoga County Board of Health received a grant from the Ohio 3. Encourage county comprehensive land-use concept of individual action and connectedness Department of Natural Resource’s Ohio-Great Coastal Restoration planning that meets specified minimum standards. to local aquatic ecosystems. Program. This grant project was titled “The Chagrin River / Euclid Creek 4. Develop a model Shoreline Management Water Quality Monitoring Water Quality Assessment and System Evaluation Project”. Program encouraging the adoption of county shoreline zoning to regulate development near and Tracking Techniques Lake Erie shoreline areas. 1. Expand the evaluation of currently used BMPs This project began April 1, 2002 and ended June 30th, The Cuyahoga County Board of Health is dedicated and the effectiveness of existing water quality 5. Establish as a standard practice the shoreline and 2003. The goal was to reduce the contamination to improving water quality throughout the county. programs. near-shore disposal of sand and gravel dredged within the Lake Erie watershed that emanates from This grant project enabled our department to focus from marina channels and waterways. 2. Update watershed and impaired segment restoration inadequate household sewage treatment systems on two major watersheds and perform activities priorities as new data becomes available. (HSTS) and to help assess water quality in the that would help in identifying problem areas. This Chagrin River and Euclid Creek watersheds. information will now be provided to communities Developing Sustainable 3. Improve and increase water quality monitoring. and other agencies in helping to identify and Watershed Protection Programs This project consisted of 6 tasks that included: eliminate these pollution sources. 1. Help watershed groups increase awareness of Fecal Coliform Sampling. water quality issues. Evaluation of HSTS. The Cuyahoga County Board of Health is appreciative 2. Support the development and maintenance of of the Ohio-Great Lakes Coastal Restoration Educational Outreach. sustainable watershed groups by providing funding Program and the opportunity it provided to our Macroinvertebrate Sampling. for organizational development, planning, and agency. It has enabled our department to expand implementation. Water Quality Sampling. upon our existing water quality and household Dissemination of Results. sewage programs by dedicating additional monies to educational projects and water quality monitoring equipment.

This brochure summarizes the grant project and highlights both the Euclid Creek and Chagrin River Watersheds and the organizations that are dedicated to protecting and improving these water resources. A Summary of Coastal Nonpoint Program Plan Objectives

Information provided by The Ohio Department of Natural Resources

Agricultural Sources Marinas and Recreational Boating 1. Implement a comprehensive monitoring program 1. Use the Clean Vessel act to plan for and implement to target nonpoint source pollution initiatives and measures for proper disposal of marine sewage. provide evaluation tools to determine the 2. Strengthen regulations to control direct effectiveness of rural nonpoint source pollution discharges and habitat alteration. abatement programs. 3. Increase interagency and program coordination to 2. Develop and offer voluntary incentive programs protect critical areas. to encourage local adoption of Best Management Practices (BMPs) based on targeting by the water quality monitoring program. Hydromodification 1. Improve and enforce regulations and design 3. Initiate, implement, and use data from research to standards to protect and natural target nonpoint source pollution prevention function. efforts and develop science-based and economically sound pollution abatement initiatives. 2. Improve voluntary protection of streams and natural stream function by providing incentives 4. Develop partnerships with private industry and to private land interests. local watershed or community organizations to initiate education programs and encourage 3. Offer training and education on the functions of voluntary adoption of BMPs. streams and the importance of maintaining natural stream integrity. Urban Areas 1. Strengthen support for urban stream protection and restoration by local government and residents. 2. Support community based watershed groups. 3. Increase oversight and performance of onsite sewage system programs. Along with requested point of sale inspections and complaint investigations, the Cuyahoga County Board Operation & Chagrin River of Health conducts operational maintenance inspections and assessments of home sewage treatment systems Maintenance Information provided by Kyle Dreyfuss-Wells, throughout the health district. Since the effluent from Director of the Chagrin River Watershed Partners, Inc., home sewage systems has been identified as a major Program April 2003. contributor to non-point source pollution in our waterways, an on-going inspection and maintenance The Chagrin River watershed drains approximately program is a necessity. 265 square miles northeast of Cleveland, Ohio. The Chagrin watershed, like most of Northeast The Operation and Maintenance Program encompasses Additionally, full sewage system evaluations were Ohio, was shaped by glacial activity. Many areas of target for the majority of water resource management an overall water quality and watershed based approach conducted throughout the two watersheds. Those the watershed, particularly along its steep hillsides efforts in Ohio and waters with this designation are in hopes of minimizing water quality problems systems that were found to be in failure and were and stream banks, contain loose sand and gravel considered to be in generally good health. emanating from failing household sewage systems. As located in communities where sanitary sewers are not that naturally erode at a high rate. Other areas of sewage systems are evaluated in a community, the being actively installed, have been required to be the watershed have clay soils that do not easily Ohio EPA’s most recent sampling data on the data gathered is provided to local officials. This replaced and upgraded with new HSTS. In those absorb water, allowing much of the rainfall and Chagrin in 1994, 1995, and 1996 places the River on information can then be utilized to help determine locations were sanitary sewer installations are planned, snowmelt to runoff quickly. As a result of this the Agency’s 303(d) list of impaired streams. A the most effective means of eliminating pollution those failing systems were identified and the glacial past, the Chagrin Total Maximum Daily sources in a specific area. In many circumstances, the homeowners made aware that they must connect to River watershed has Load (TMDL) study of design and installation of a sanitary sewer is a feasible the sanitary sewer once it becomes accessible. varied topography and the Chagrin is scheduled solution for eliminating failing sewage systems. Where naturally high rates of for 2006. This sampling sanitary sewers are determined not to be feasible, the During this project, 180 HSTS were found to be in both flooding and erosion. data also indicates that repair of failing home sewage treatment systems will failure or not operating as designed and were replaced many reaches of the be on going. wihtin these watersheds. The Chagrin, a Lake Erie Chagrin are not meeting tributary, is recognized their CWH or WWH One project task of this grant focused on assessing statewide as a high aquatic life use designations. approximately 2,700 HSTS within the Chagrin River quality resource with 71 The principal causes of and Euclid Creek Watersheds. These assessments were miles designated as State impairment and non- conducted mainly to educate the homeowners as to Scenic Rivers by the Ohio attainment in the Chagrin the care and maintenance of their HSTS and to Department of Natural are hydromodification, identify any public health nuisance concerns that may Resources (ODNR). sedimentation, and be present. Several of the Chagrin’s pollution from urban tributary streams support storm water runoff; During these assessments, each homeowner received Coldwater Habitat (CWH) aquatic life use designations enrichment from failing home sewage an educational packet composed of a Household from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency treatment systems and suburban lawn care; Sewage Treatment System Record Folder. This folder (Ohio EPA). CWH use designation applies to sedimentation from streambank erosion and poorly contained fact sheets on different HSTS designs, care waters that support assemblages of coldwater controlled construction sites; riparian encroachment from and maintenance and any information that the CCBH organisms. CWH is considered among the highest land use changes, and the filling and draining of had concerning their individual septic system, including quality aquatic habitat in Ohio and the Chagrin wetlands. In 2002 the Chagrin River Watershed drawings of their system. River watershed is unique for the extent of this Partners (CRWP), completed a study of wetland loss in high quality habitat so close to a major urban area. the watershed, estimating both historic and current wetland acreage using available digital data. The initial Other portions of the Chagrin River are designated as estimates place wetland loss at approximately 80%. Warmwater Habitat (WWH). WWH use designation Adequate restoration and mitigation for the assimilative defines a typical warmwater assemblage of aquatic capacity of these lost wetlands has not been completed organisms. WWH is the principal restoration within the watershed. Land use and the problems associated with Macroinvertebrate unmanaged development form the common theme among the watershed problems highlighted earlier. Monitoring Development increases both the flow and velocity of storm water runoff and, with the exception of nutrient pollution due to home sewage treatment systems, the water quality problems of the Chagrin Faced with a high quality natural resource River watershed are due to increases in water experiencing the stresses of land use change, the quantity. The current land use practices in the communities in the Chagrin River watershed have a Macroinvertebrates are animals without a backbone Chagrin have caused a variety of flooding, erosion, unique opportunity to implement innovative, that are visible without magnification. Aquatic and water quality problems. These concerns are prevention focused solutions to minimize the macroinvertebrates live in or near the water and their seen in Ohio EPA’s sampling data as well as in impacts of development. To assist member identification is a reliable tool in assessing the watershed wide and localized flooding and erosion. communities in capturing this opportunity, general health of a river or stream. For example, These problems cost local governments and residents CRWP has developed a series of recommendations when unfavorable changes occur in a river, such as as they must clean up from flooding, rebuild threatened on minimizing the impacts of development. an increase in sediment, the diversity and abundance Examples of Group One taxa include caddisfly or damage roads and bridges, and protect homes and These recommendations are based on the following of species may decline. larva, gilled snails, and riffle beetles. Examples of infrastructure from flooding and eroding streams. three (3) principles: Group Two taxa include , sowbugs, and Macroinvertebrates are typically collected for clams. Examples of Group Three taxa include Current land use practices cause flooding, erosion, 1. Natural resources provide services: Wetlands, identification in riffle areas of a river or stream. leeches, aquatic worms, and midge larva. The and water quality problems in two ways, both of riparian areas, and other natural resources provide A riffle area, also referred to as rapids, is an area overall assessment of a river or stream location which are linked to increases in water quantity. flood control, erosion control, and water quality where shallow water races downstream over areas involves a tally of all taxa present, which results in a Traditional land use planning, the guide for a protection services. of stones or gravel. These areas provide an ideal stream quality assessment rating of excellent, good, community’s long-term development, does not 2. Prevention is cheaper than remediation: source of shelter, food, and a continuous flow of fair, or poor. account for the amount and functions of , Preventive steps to maintain the services of water with high dissolved oxygen levels. wetlands, and open spaces that naturally control natural resources cost less than remedial actions The Ohio Department of Natural Resources, water quality and quantity. As a result, communities to recreate these services. Aquatic macroinvertebrates are classified based on Division of Natural Areas & Preserves, conducts and developers are not aware of these resources their sensitivity to pollutants. There are three an Ohio Scenic Rivers Program, of which the and they are lost when land is developed. Traditional 3. Local governments have a role: Actions to classifications: Group One macroinvertebrates (taxa) CCBH has been a volunteer participant for several land use practices then compound this loss of maintain these services are matters of public are sensitive to pollutants and their abundance represents years. As part of the Ohio Department of Natural natural resource functions by increasing impervious health and safety and are within local government good water quality conditions. Group Two taxa are Resources grant, the CCBH conducted cover. Impervious cover includes roads, rooftops, authorities. moderately sensitive to pollutants and can survive in a macroinvertebrate monitoring in the Chagrin River driveways, lawns, and other surfaces that do not variety of water quality conditions. Group Three taxa and Euclid Creek watersheds. Five locations were absorb storm water, and impervious cover increases are very tolerant to pollutants and their abundance monitored in the Chagrin River Watershed, all of both the volume and velocity of storm water represents poor water quality conditions. which received an excellent stream quality assessment runoff. The result of these two impacts of current rating. Three locations were monitored in the Euclid land use practices is that as the cause of the flooding, Creek Watershed. These locations received stream erosion, and water quality problems - impervious quality assessment ratings of fair to good. An Ohio cover - grows, the ability of floodplains, wetlands, and Scenic Rivers Stream Quality Monitoring Assessment Form was open spaces to control these problems declines. utilized to determine the ratings. The Chagrin River Watershed Partners is unique in The CCBH will continue to perform Ohio. They are one of a handful of organizations macroinvertebrate monitoring in selected areas nationwide that is organized by communities and throughout the Chagrin River and Euclid Creek structured to support them in their natural resource Watersheds and collaborate with the Ohio management efforts. Department of Natural Resources Scenic River’s Program. All sampling data will be shared with ODNR and other appropriate agencies and organizations within these watersheds. public access to Euclid Creek. This study was Water quality is essential to public health, our natural conducted in conjunction with the Cuyahoga environment, and economic development. The Water Quality Euclid Creek County Planning Commission’s Greenspace Plan Cuyahoga County Board of Health conducts an which provides a comprehensive evaluation of extensive water quality program. The focus of this Information provided by Kristyn Albro, remaining greenspace resources in the county and program is an overall watershed based approach Program Euclid Creek Watershed Coordinator, provides a vision for connecting these resources. when dealing with water quality issues. Activities Cuyahoga Soil and Water Conservation District, April 2003. within this program include: The next initiative in the watershed will include a Identifying and eliminating public health culmination of the stakeholder involvement and nuisances and hazards in our surface waters The Euclid Creek watershed drains an area of 23 interest in the watershed through the creation of a The purpose of a permanent water quality monitoring Surveying the various watersheds throughout square miles, and encompasses over 46 miles of watershed plan. This project will be managed by the program is to determine quantitative cause and the county streams and headwater tributaries. The population of Euclid Creek Watershed Coordinator, and supported effect relationships in water quality, obtain sufficient the watershed is estimated at 60,000 residents and through the Euclid Creek Watershed Council and the Supporting the Household Sewage, Storm data for updating water quality management plans, includes the communities of Beachwood, Cleveland, Cuyahoga Soil and Water Conservation District. This Water, Semi-public Sewage, Bathing Beach and determining effluent limits, identifying nonpoint Parks & Recreation Programs Euclid, South Euclid, Lyndhurst, Richmond Heights, plan will help to inventory existing conditions and sources of pollution and classification of stream Highland Heights, Mayfield Heights, Willoughby Hills resources and will provide an opportunity for the Educating the public on Non-Point Source segments throughout the watershed. Additionally, and small portions of Mayfield Heights, Shaker public to create a vision for the watershed. The Pollution issues the monitoring program sets priorities for establishing Heights and Pepper Pike. completed watershed plan will identify the critical Participating in local watershed protection or improving existing pollution controls and steps needed to fulfill this vision and present a groups and meetings determining whether additional water quality Currently, the Ohio Environmental Protection format for implementation. Collecting water quality samples from permanent management strategies may be required to further Agency has determined that the water quality of the sites throughout our watersheds identify impediments to the natural resources. main branch of Euclid Creek is not in attainment for Due to the vast support and interest in the Euclid Conducting biological, chemical, and physical warm water standards, while about 50% of the east Currently, over 50 permanent water quality-monitoring Creek watershed, these initiatives will help to serve as assessments of stream segments. branch is in partial attainment. The cause of these a model for community enhancement and stream sites have been established within the various impairments includes high organic enrichment, restoration in urban areas. watersheds in Cuyahoga County. This data is used to habitat alterations, , and heavy metals. Stream Monitoring and obtain general baseline conditions and to identify Sources of these impairments include combined Permanent Monitoring Programs problem areas potentially being impacted by sources sewer overflows, point source discharges, urban runoff, The Board of Health has conducted a stream of water pollution. This information is then provided channelization, failing septic systems and spills. monitoring program since the late 1980’s. This to the responsible agencies and communities for any program has allowed for the chemical, physical follow up activities that may be required. There are currently several key grass-roots and and biological monitoring of water quality in our community based initiatives underway in the jurisdiction. The information collected from this As part of the Ohio Coastal Nonpoint Program’s watershed. The first initiative includes the Friends program has documented the need for the Board of Grant project, the Board of Health was able to of Euclid Creek, a citizen-based group focused on Health’s Operation and Maintenance Program for establish additional permanent sampling locations in improving the water quality of the creek and protecting Household Sewage Treatment Systems. To date both the Euclid Creek and Chagrin River Watersheds. remaining greenspace areas in the watershed. thousands of water quality samples have been A total of 20 sites were established in the Chagrin collected and all data is archived in our water River Watershed and 5 within the Euclid Creek Another initiative underway is the Euclid Creek quality computer database. In 1999, the Board of Watershed. The parameters tested included: Watershed Council, which includes community and Health also established a permanent sampling municipal leaders and represents most of the program throughout the county’s watersheds. Fecal Coliform Dissolved Oxygen communities in the watershed. The goal of the Total Specific Conductance Council is to address issues of water quality and storm Stream Velocity Ammonia water on a watershed scale, while promoting public Turbidity pH education and involvement with this unique resource. Suspended Solids Water Temperature

One exciting study recently conducted by the Kent The Board of Health will continue to monitor the Urban Design Center and the & permanent sampling locations and will work with all Nottingham Villages Development Corporation has appropriate agencies when impairments are identified. focused on the revitalization of the St. Clair Avenue corridor and the enhancement of