Cuyahoga River
Cuyahoga River watershed map
Origin	41°26′26″N 81°09′07″W / 41.44056, -81.15194 (Cuyahoga River source)1 Confluence of East Branch Cuyahoga River2 and West Branch Cuyahoga River3 near Pond Road and Rapids Road, Burton, Geauga County, Ohio
Mouth	41°30′13″N 81°42′44″W / 41.50361, -81.71222 (Cuyahoga River mouth)Coordinates: 41°30′13″N 81°42′44″W / 41.50361, -81.71222 (Cuyahoga River mouth) Lake Erie at Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio1
Basin countries	United States of America
Length	84.9 miles (136.6 km)4
Source elevation	1,093 feet (333.1 m) 23
Mouth elevation	571 feet (174.0 m) 1
Basin area	809 square miles (2,100 km2) 5

The Cuyahoga River in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park

The Cuyahoga River⁶ (pronounced /ˌkaɪəˈhɔgə/, or kuy-a-HO-ga) is located in Northeast Ohio in the United States. Outside of Ohio, the river is most famous for being "the river which caught fire", helping to spur the environmental movement in the late 1960s. Native Americans called this winding water "Cuyahoga," which means "crooked river" in the Iroquois language.

Course

The Cuyahoga watershed begins its 100 miles (160 km) journey in Hambden, Ohio, flowing southwards to the confluence of the East Branch Cuyahoga River and West Branch Cuyahoga River in Burton where the Cuyahoga River officially¹ begins. It continues on its 84.9 miles (136.6 km) journey flowing Southward to Cuyahoga Falls, where it turns sharply North and flows through the Cuyahoga Valley National Park (CUVA or CVNP) in Northern Summit County and Southern Cuyahoga County. It then flows through Independence, Valley View, Cuyahoga Heights, Newburg Heights and Cleveland to its northern terminus, emptying into Lake Erie. The Cuyahoga River and its tributaries drain 813 square miles (2,110 km²) of land in portions of six counties.

The river is a relatively recent geological formation, formed by the advance and retreat of ice sheets during the last ice age. The final glacial retreat, which occurred 10–12,000 years ago, caused changes in the drainage pattern near Akron. This change in pattern caused the originally southward-flowing Cuyahoga to flow to the north. As its newly reversed currents flowed towards Lake Erie, the river carved its way around glacial debris left by the receding ice sheet, resulting in the river's winding U-shape. These meanderings stretched the length of the river (which was only 30 miles (50 km) when travelled directly) into a 100-mile (160 km) trek from its headwaters to its mouth. The depth of the river (except where noted below) ranges from 3 to 6 feet (90-180 cm).

History

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

Moses Cleaveland, a surveyor charged with exploring the Connecticut Western Reserve, first arrived at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River in 1796, and subsequently decided to locate a settlement there, which became Cleveland, Ohio.

The river was one of the features along which the "Greenville Treaty Line" ran beginning in 1795, per the Treaty of Greenville, effectively becoming the western boundary of the United States and remaining as such briefly.

Environmental concerns

Fires plagued the Cuyahoga River beginning in 1936 when a spark from a blow torch ignited floating debris and oils. The largest river fire in 1952 caused over $1 million in damage to boats and a riverfront office building.⁷ Fires erupted on the river several more times before June 22, 1969, when a river fire captured the attention of Time magazine, which described the Cuyahoga as the river that "oozes rather than flows" and in which a person "does not drown but decays."⁸

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 and state Environmental Protection Agency. As a result, large point sources of pollution on the Cuyahoga have received significant attention from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency in recent 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".

Water quality has improved and, in recognition of this improvement, the Cuyahoga River was designated as one of 14 American Heritage Rivers in 1998. Pollution remains, however, including nonpoint source problems, combined sewer overflows,⁹ 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.

Modifications

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

The lower Cuyahoga River has been subject to numerous changes. Originally, the Cuyahoga river met Lake Erie approximately 4,000 feet west of its current mouth, forming a shallow marsh. The current mouth is man-made, and it lies just west of present-day downtown Cleveland, which 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.

Ice-breaking

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.

Flooding

Some attempts (including dams and dredging) have been made to control flooding along the Cuyahoga River basin. People have developed many flat areas which are only a few feet above the normal river levels. Sudden strong rain or snow storms can create severe flooding in these low-lying areas.

While the upper Cuyahoga River, starting at 1,093 feet (333 m) over 84 miles (135 km) from its mouth, drops in elevation fairly steeply producing 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)¹ at the mouth on Lake Erie, resulting in relatively slow moving waters which can take a while to drain compared to the upper Cuyahoga River.

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.

Dams

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Ohio and Erie Canal diversion dam

The Brecksville Dam^B[›] at river mile 20 is the first dam upstream of Lake Erie. It impacts fish populations by restricting fish passage.¹⁰

Gorge Metropolitan Park Dam

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 dam has for over 90 years flooded 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.¹¹

The FirstEnergy Dam was built by the Northern Ohio Traction & 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 1991.¹² Some environmental groups (including American Rivers and Friends of the Crooked River) and recreational groups (including the Cleveland-based Keel-haulers Canoe Club and American Whitewater) want the dam removed.¹³ Others contend that such an effort would be expensive and complicated, for at least two reasons: 1) the formerly hollow dam was filled in with concrete in the early 1990s, and 2) 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 estimates that removal of the dam would cost $5–10 million, and removal of the contaminated sediments $60 million.¹⁴ The dam is licensed through 2041.

Advanced Hydro Solutions (AHS), a company based in Fairlawn, Ohio, filed a notice of intent to utilize the dam to generate hydropower. The company contends that hydropower is a cleaner source of power and that the emissions saved by the plant will be the equivalent of taking 10,000 cars off the road.¹⁴ Citing concerns with erosion, dewatering of the scenic river reach below the dam, and use that is inconsistent with the Gorge MetroPark's purpose, opponents to this plan include, in addition to environmental and recreational groups, some governmental agencies, including Metro Parks, Serving Summit County, the U.S. Department of the Interior, and the Ohio EPA. At public meetings held on July 27, 2005, the proposed project, which would only generate enough electricity to power 2000 homes, encountered substantial opposition. On May 25, 2007, AHS suffered a setback in its effort to develop the site. The United States Court of Appeals for the sixth circuit denied its application to conduct tests at the site, refusing to overturn a lower court's ruling that the MetroParks had the right to deny AHS access to conduct the tests.¹⁵ In a letter dated June 14, 2007, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) terminated AHS's application for the Integrated Licensing Permit without prejudice, citing the company's failure to adhere to strict timelines. FERC will allow AHS to re-file if it can conduct the required studies and move forward with the project.¹⁶¹⁷ The final decision from the FERC on the project is due in July 2009.¹⁴

Munroe Falls Dam

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 2005.¹⁸ Work on this project uncovered a natural waterfall.¹⁹ 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 September 27, 2005. The dam, constructed of sandstone blocks, has been removed, replacing an 11.5-foot dam with a natural ledge which is 4.5 feet high at its maximum drop.²⁰²¹

Kent Dam

The Kent Dam was bypassed in 2004.²²

Lists

Variant names

According to the United States Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System, the Cuyahoga River has also been known as: ¹

Dams

Dams on the Cuyahoga River

RM C[›]23	Coordinates	Elevation	Locality	County	Description
20.71 24	41°19′15″N 81°35′15″W / 41.32083, -81.5875 (Ohio and Erie Canal diversion dam)25				Ohio and Erie Canal diversion dam, built 1825-1827 upstream from SR 82 Chippewa Road-West Aurora Road bridge, downstream from Station Road-Bridle Trail bridge
45.8 24	41°07′23″N 81°29′50″W / 41.12306, -81.49722 (Gorge Metropolitan Park Dam)26	840 feet (260 m)26		Summit	Gorge Metropolitan Park Dam, built in 1912, upstream from SR 8 North Main Street-State Road bridge, downstream from SR 59 Front Street bridge
49.9 2427	41°08′14″N 81°28′53″W / 41.13722, -81.48139 (Cuyahoga Falls Low Head Dam)28	1,007 feet (307 m)28	Cuyahoga Falls	Summit	Cuyahoga Falls Low Head Dam, upstream from Portage Trail bridge, downstream from SR 8/SR 59 bridge
54.8 27	41°9′12″N 81°21′35″W / 41.15333, -81.35972 (Kent Dam)29		Kent	Portage	Kent dam, upstream from SR 59/SR 43 Haymaker Parkway bridge, immediately downstream from West Main Street bridge
57.97 4	41°10′58″N 81°19′51″W / 41.18278, -81.33083 (Lake Rockwell Dam)30	1,063 feet (324 m)30	Franklin Township	Portage	Lake Rockwell Dam, upstream from Ravenna Road bridge, downstream from SR 14 Cleveland-East Liverpool Road bridge

Tributaries

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:^A[›]