From headwaters by Beachwood Mall to its mouth at Lake Erie, Euclid Creek snakes through eastern suburbs of Cleveland. It is a severely urbanized stream, culverted and channeled and plagued by stormwater runnoff and sewer overflows for much of its length. But it also has stretches of great beauty, such as the deep ravine with shale and sandstone cliffs through the Cleveland Metroparks Euclid Creek Reservation.
The total drainage area is approximately 15,500 acres, and the creek has a length of 9.5 miles.
With the exception of a culverted section under Interstate 90, the creek is predominantly open. The section between Lake Shore Blvd. and Nottingham Rd. has been channelized by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers with concrete streambeds for flood control. A dam is located downstream of the St. Clair Ave. bridge.
In the past couple of years, there has been renewed interest in the creek. A watershed coordinator based at the Cuyahoga Soil & Water Conservation District has organized a Friends of Euclid Creek group, as well as planning for improved water quality protection and expanded greenspace in the watershed. A new planning effort will look at linking the Metroparks reservation with the state's lakefront park at Wildwood.
Recent projects
- Construction of rain gardens throughout the watershed to demonstrate stormwater retention and filtration methods.
- Replacement of turfgrass with native meadow at Lyndhurst's Brainard Park to reduce runoff and maintenance costs.
- Development of a Euclid Creek environmental stewardship course by Cuyahoga Community College.
- Improvement of fish passage and habitat with dam removal and improvement of connections to the upper watershed.
- Volunteer stream monitoring of chemical conditions. Sampling of biological conditions will begin in 2007.
Resources
Euclid Creek Watershed Action Plan
Euclid Creek Watershed Council
Friends of Euclid Creek
Map of the watershed
Unveiling Euclid Creek book
