Matt Acre doesn’t normally do his job in front of an audience, but on Aug. 26, a crowd of 50 people visited him at work.
His “office” — a tent in Cascade Valley Metro Park on the shore of the Cuyahoga River — served as headquarters for Acre, a research fisheries biologist, and his colleagues with the U.S. Geological Survey. It was the last stop on a three-hour bus tour around Summit County that allowed participants to see local restoration projects on the Cuyahoga River, supported by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI).
Hosted by Cuyahoga River AOC (Area of Concern), the tour brought together representatives from local and state environmental organizations, as well as an environmental science class from Woodridge High School. It was intended to document how federal investments have translated into local impact by restoring the river’s environmental health.
Also participating were Summit Metro Parks Executive Director Lisa King and Watershed Specialist Elaine Marsh, Cuyahoga Falls Mayor Don Walters, State Rep. Veronica Sims (D-Akron) and U.S. Rep. Emilia Sykes (13th District.)
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Collecting data from fish
In the shade of his tent at the park, Acre “did surgery” on a Northern Pike that had been caught using an electrofishing boat in that part of the Cuyahoga River.
Once the fish was anesthetized and placed in a piece of equipment with water running through it, Acre used a scalpel to make an incision. He placed a radio tag in the fish, sutured it up and then placed it in a container with holes in the water. Once the anesthesia wore off, the fish was set free in the river.
A wire running outside the fish acts as an antenna, and the radio tag inside the fish will allow it (and its data) to be tracked for several years.
“We don’t know where they’re going and when they’re going there because a lot of these pike are challenging the dam, so they’re running all the way up to the base of the dam. We want to know how often they are doing this,” Acre said, gently freeing an already-tagged quillback, smallmouth bass and freshwater drum into the river.
Because these species are found in the Cuyahoga River, the biologists said it’s an indicator that the water is clean. They are also studying how the fish population responds to the restoration work being done on the river.
A coalition of partners, led by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, is also working to reintroduce lake sturgeon to the river.
Touring other local restoration projects
Another stop on the bus tour was the Little Cuyahoga River Memorial Parkway Restoration. The group took a seven-minute stroll on the Towpath Trail to see one part of a four-part project. This specific part, expected to begin next year, will address a decline in fish population and a degradation of benthos, the organisms that live at the bottom of a body of water. The total project will be funded by a $2.6 million grant from the GLRI.
The group also stopped at Gorge Metro Park. Participants walked across the bridge to view the sediment cleanup and dam removal being performed by Sevenson Environmental Services Inc. and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Marsh, who was inducted in late July into the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Hall of Fame, said the dam was originally built by Northern Ohio Traction and Light Co. to provide hydroelectricity to power Akron’s streetcars. By the early 1990s, municipalities with dams were learning that those features were negatively affecting water quality, and their leaders began looking for ways to better meet and exceed environmental standards.
“What we have found out about water quality is that it makes good communities, it doesn’t just make good chemistry,” Marsh said, adding that other communities that have removed dams are seeing their riverfronts become popular attractions. “Instead of being a place that people shun, it has become a central part of where people live, work and play.”
What can Summit County residents do?
Cuyahoga River AOC’s goal is to tackle harmful issues, work for the benefit of the river and its surroundings and delist the river as an “area of concern.”
In 2017, the Cuyahoga River originally had 10 issues, or beneficial use impairments, that made it an area of concern to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. Since then, six of those issues have been improved, and the group is focusing on the last four issues and making the river healthier for people and wildlife.
“These projects will help us to remove those impairments and eventually become delisted, and then we want to have a great big party,” said Jen Grieser, advisory committee chair of Cuyahoga River AOC.
With highly populated Summit County neighborhoods not far from the Cuyahoga River watershed, Cuyahoga River AOC has three suggestions for residents who want to help restore and improve environmental conditions, starting with their own yard.
- Replace paved sidewalks and driveways around your home with a rain garden. This will reduce stormwater runoff that pushes contaminants into streams.
- Pick up after your pet. Bacteria from pet waste can run into storm drains or directly into streams and cause beach closings. Don’t forget — the Cuyahoga River flows into Lake Erie.
- If your property has a stream running through it, plant trees and shrubs along the banks to keep erosion down and prevent sediment from smothering insects that serve as food for the fish.