ENVIRONMENTAL RESORATION OF THE CUYAHOGA RIVER THROUGH DAM REMOVAL

The 1969 Cuyahoga River fire in Cleveland, Ohio was influential in the environmental movement in the United States and is credited as one of the events that led to the passage of more rigorous environmental regulations and the formation of the Environmental Protection Agency. Gaylord Nelson also cited the infamous fire as his motivation for creating Earth Day. Because of its storied history, the river is often used to measure the progress towards improving water resource integrity in the United States.

The Cuyahoga River has shown dramatic water quality improvements as a result of regulations imposed by the Clean Water Act. However, portions of the river still do not fully attain the goals of the Act. Complete restoration of water resources often requires steps beyond regulation of the conventional pollutants provided in the Act. The authors of the Clean Water Act anticipated this and included a section in the Act entitled Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) to address non regulated impacts to water resource integrity. A TMDL report was developed and recommended, in part, removal or modification of two dams on the Cuyahoga River near Kent, Ohio.

The Kent dam was modified in 2004 to allow the river to bypass the dam structure which eliminated the dam impoundment. The Munroe Falls dam located approximately 5 miles downstream from the Kent dam was removed in the Fall of 2005. The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (Ohio EPA) monitored the fish community near the Kent dam pre and post dam bypass. Sampling conducted in 2004 and 2005 indicates the removal of dam impoundments in the middle portion of the Cuyahoga River has resulted in improvements to the fish community in less than one year.