Cuyahoga River

A city pump station discharges sewage into Cuyahoga River in 1973.

The Cuyahoga River, at times during the 20th century, was one of the most polluted rivers in the United States. The reach from Akron to Cleveland was devoid of fish. A 1968 Kent State University symposium described one section of the river:

From 1,000 feet [300 m] below Lower Harvard Bridge to Newburgh and South Shore Railroad Bridge, the channel becomes wider and deeper and the level is controlled by Lake Erie. Downstream of the railroad bridge to the harbor, the depth is held constant by dredging, and the width is maintained by piling along both banks. The surface is covered with the brown oily film observed upstream as far as the Southerly Plant effluent. In addition, large quantities of black heavy oil floating in slicks, sometimes several inches thick, are observed frequently. Debris and trash are commonly caught up in these slicks forming an unsightly floating mess. Anaerobic action is common as the dissolved oxygen is seldom above a fraction of a part per million. The discharge of cooling water increases the temperature by 10 to 15 °F [5.6 to 8.3 °C]. The velocity is negligible, and sludge accumulates on the bottom. Animal life does not exist. Only the algae Oscillatoria grows along the piers above the water line. The color changes from gray-brown to rusty brown as the river proceeds downstream. Transparency is less than 0.5 feet [0.15 m] in this reach. This entire reach is grossly polluted.[18]

At least 13 fires have been reported on the Cuyahoga River, the first occurring in 1868.[10][19] The largest river fire, in 1952, caused over $1 million in damage[10] to boats, a bridge, and a riverfront office building.[20]

Things began to change in the late 1960s, when new mayor Carl Stokes and his utilities director rallied voters to approve a $100 million bond to rehabilitate Cleveland's rivers.[21] Then, the mayor seized the opportunity of a June 22, 1969 river fire triggered by a spark from a passing rail car igniting an oil slick to bring reporters to the river to raise attention to the issue.[21] The 1969 fire caused approximately $50,000 in damage, mostly to an adjacent railroad bridge,[19] but despite Mayor Stokes' efforts, very little attention was initially given to the incident, and it was not considered a major news story in the Cleveland media.[19]

A view of the river from the Ohio and Erie Canal Tow-Path Trail

However, the incident did soon garner the attention of Time magazine, which used a dramatic photo of the even larger 1952 blaze[21] in an article on the pollution of America's waterways. The article described the Cuyahoga as the river that "oozes rather than flows" and in which a person "does not drown but decays"[22] and listed other badly-polluted rivers across the nation.[21] (No pictures of the 1969 fire are known to exist, as local media did not arrive on the scene until after the fire was under control[19]). The article launched Time's new "Environment" section, and gained wide readership not only on its own merit, but because the same issue featured coverage of astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landing on the moon the previous week in the Apollo 11 mission, and had Senator Ted Kennedy on the cover for a story on the Chappaquiddick incident in which Kennedy's automobile passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne, had drowned.[21]

The 1969 Cuyahoga River fire helped spur an avalanche of water pollution control activities, resulting in the Clean Water Act, Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, and the creation of the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA). Mayor Stokes gave Congressional testimony on his and other major big cities' struggles with polluting industries to restore the environmental health of their communities.[21] As a result, large point sources of pollution on the Cuyahoga have received significant attention from the OEPA in subsequent decades. These events are referred to in Randy Newman's 1972 song "Burn On", R.E.M.'s 1986 song "Cuyahoga", and Adam Again's 1992 song "River on Fire". Great Lakes Brewing Company of Cleveland named its Burning River Pale Ale after the event.

In December 1970 a federal grand jury investigation led by U.S. Attorney Robert Jones began, of water pollution allegedly being caused by about 12 companies in northeastern Ohio; it was the first grand jury investigation of water pollution in the area.[23] The Attorney General of the United States, John N. Mitchell, gave a Press Conference December 18, 1970 referencing new pollution control litigation, with particular reference to work with the new Environmental Protection Agency, and announcing the filing of a law suit that morning against the Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation for discharging substantial quantities of cyanide into the Cuyahoga River near Cleveland.[24] Jones filed the misdemeanor charges in District Court, alleging violations of the 1899 Rivers and Harbors Act.[25] There were multiple other suits filed by Jones.[26][27][28]

Rowing on the Cuyahoga in Cleveland

Water quality has improved and, partially in recognition of this improvement, the Cuyahoga was designated one of 14 American Heritage Rivers in 1998.[29] Despite these efforts, pollution continues to exist in the Cuyahoga River due to other sources of pollution, including urban runoff, nonpoint source problems, combined sewer overflows,[30] and stagnation due to water impounded by dams. For this reason, the Environmental Protection Agency classified portions of the Cuyahoga River watershed as one of 43 Great Lakes Areas of Concern. The most polluted portions of the river now generally meet established aquatic life water quality standards except near dam impoundments. The reasons for not meeting standards near the dam pools are habitat and fish passage issues rather than water quality. River reaches that were once devoid of fish now support 44 species. The most recent survey in 2008 revealed the two most common species in the river were hogsuckers and spotfin shiners, both moderately sensitive to water quality. Habitat issues within the 5.6-mile (9.0 km) navigation channel still preclude a robust fishery in that reach. Recreation water quality standards (using bacteria as indicators) are generally met during dry weather conditions, but are often exceeded during significant rains due to nonpoint sources and combined sewer overflows. In March 2019 the OEPA declared fish caught in the river safe to eat.[31]

The river's mouth at Lake Erie in Cleveland, c. 1920

Near the mouth of the river in Cleveland's Flats

The lower Cuyahoga River, just west of present-day downtown Cleveland, has been subjected to numerous changes. Originally, the Cuyahoga river met Lake Erie approximately 4,000 feet (1.2 km) west of its current mouth, forming a shallow marsh. The current mouth is man-made, created in 1827,[15] and allows shipping traffic to flow freely between the river and the lake. Additionally, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers periodically dredges the navigation channel of the otherwise shallow river to a depth of 27 feet (8.2 m), along the river's lower 5 miles (8.0 km), from its mouth up to the Mittal Steel Cleveland Works steel mills, to accommodate Great Lakes freighter traffic which serves the bulk (asphalt, gravel, petroleum, salt, steel, and other) industries located along the lower Cuyahoga River banks in Cleveland's Flats district. The Corps of Engineers has also straightened river banks and widened turning basins in the federal navigation channel on the lower Cuyahoga River to facilitate maritime operations.

The United States Coast Guard sometimes conducts fall and spring ice-breaking operations along Lake Erie and the lower Cuyahoga River to prolong the Great Lakes shipping season, depending on shipping schedules and weather conditions.

Some attempts (including dams and dredging) have been made to control flooding along the Cuyahoga River basin. As a result of speculative land development, buildings have been erected on many flat areas that are only a few feet above normal river levels. Sudden strong rain or snow storms can create severe flooding in these low-lying areas.

The upper Cuyahoga River, starting at 1,093 feet (333 m) over 84 miles (135 km) from its mouth, drops in elevation fairly steeply, creating falls and rapids in some places; the lower Cuyahoga River only drops several feet along the last several miles of the lower river to 571 feet (174 m)[2] at the mouth on Lake Erie, resulting in relatively slow-moving waters that can take a while to drain compared to the upper Cuyahoga.

Some tributary elevations above are higher than the Cuyahoga River elevation, because of small waterfalls at or near their confluences; and distances are measured in "river miles" along the river's length from its mouth on Lake Erie.

On August 25, 2020, a Holland Oil and Gas fuel tanker crashed on Route 8 near Akron and Cuyahoga Falls, killing one individual and causing a fire that leaked fuel into the southern section of the river.[32] The fire was extinguished by the Akron Fire Department and the river section and surrounding area were promptly cleaned up.[32] The fatal road crash marked the first and only river fire incident on the Cuyahoga since June 1969.[33] However, as scholar Anne Jefferson notes:

There are some real, substantive differences between this small fire and the fires of 50+ years ago... 50+ years ago, there were many, many point sources & non-point sources of pollution that made the river itself flammable (in Cleveland, near the mouth), and all it took was a sufficient spark. The Cuyahoga burned more than once (13 times before today), and so did rivers in other industrial cities in the US... Both local grassroots and national efforts have led to dramatic improvements in water quality since then. The Cuyahoga River still has some issues, but flammability isn’t among them.[33]

The Brecksville Dam[lower-alpha 1] at river mile 20 was the first dam upstream of Lake Erie. It affected fish populations by restricting their passage.[34] The dam was removed in 2020.[35]

FirstEnergy Dam

The largest dam is the Gorge Metropolitan Park Dam, also known as the FirstEnergy Dam, on the border between Cuyahoga Falls and Akron. This 57-foot (17 m) dam has for over 90 years submerged the falls for which the City of Cuyahoga Falls was named; more to the point of water quality, it has created a large stagnant pool with low dissolved oxygen.[36]

On April 9, 2019, officials from the U.S. EPA and Ohio EPA announced a plan to remove the Gorge Metropolitan Park Dam by 2023 at a cost of $65 to $70 million. Funding for the project was authorized through the Great Lakes Legacy Act with funds coming from the City of Akron and members of the Gorge Dam Stakeholder Committee, including Summit Metro Parks, FirstEnergy, and the City of Cuyahoga Falls.[37] As of 2022 the planned date of removal is 2026.[38]

The FirstEnergy Dam was built by the Northern Ohio Traction and Light Co. in 1912 to serve the dual functions of generating hydropower for its local streetcar system and providing cooling-water storage for a coal-burning power plant; however, the hydropower operation was discontinued in 1958, and the coal-burning plant was decommissioned in 1991.[39] Some environmental groups and recreational groups want the dam removed.[40] Others contend that such an effort would be expensive and complicated, for at least two reasons: first, the formerly hollow dam was filled in with concrete in the early 1990s, and second, because of the industrial history of Cuyahoga Falls, the sediment upstream of the dam is expected to contain hazardous chemicals, possibly including heavy metals and PCBs. The Ohio EPA estimated removal of the dam would cost $5–10 million, and removal of the contaminated sediments, a further $60 million.[41] The dam is licensed through 2041.

In late 2012, two dams in Cuyahoga Falls, the Sheraton and LeFever Dams, were scheduled for demolition,[42] as the result of an agreement between the City of Cuyahoga Falls, which owns the dams, and the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, which will provide $1 million of funding to remove the dams. On December 12, 2012, the ACOE issued a permit, allowing the demolition to proceed.[43] As part of the project, a water trail was developed.[44] In early June 2013, dam removal began, and ended in August 20, 2013.[45] This brought about a mile of the river back to its natural state, removed 35 feet (11 m) of structures, and exposed an equivalent quantity of whitewater for recreation. In 2019, attempts by the city to address increased erosion as a result of the removal of these and other area dams were publicized.[46]

Two other dams, in Kent and in Munroe Falls, though smaller, have had an even greater impact on water quality due to the lower gradient in their respective reaches. For this reason, the Ohio EPA required the communities to mitigate the effects of the dams.

The Munroe Falls Dam was modified in 2005.[47] Work on this project uncovered a natural waterfall.[48] Given this new knowledge about the riverbed, some interested parties, including Summit County, campaigned for complete removal of the dam. The revised plan, initially denied on September 20, 2005, was approved by the Munroe Falls City Council on a week later. The 11.5-foot (3.5 m) sandstone dam has since been removed, and in its place now is a natural ledge with a 4.5-foot (1.4 m) drop at its greatest point.[49][50]

The Kent Dam was bypassed in 2004 and was the first dam modification project in the state of Ohio that was made solely for water quality issues. The modification resulted in the river fully attaining the designated Ohio water quality standards.[51][52]

According to the United States Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System, the Cuyahoga River has also been known as:[2]

Generally, rivers are larger than creeks, which are larger than brooks, which are larger than runs. Runs may be dry except during or after a rain, at which point they can flash flood and be torrential.

Default is standard order from mouth to upstream:[lower-alpha 3]