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Residents asked to help with restoration
(by Sue Reid - October 12, 2012)
Residents asked to help with restoration
By SUE REID
An education and outreach program associated with a Sulphur Springs stream restoration project was presented to City Council’s public works committee last week by representatives from the Chagrin River Watershed Partners.
Amy Holtshouse Brennan, CRWP director, told the committee of the stream restoration and assessment project being undertaken in which her organization, Cleveland Metroparks and the Emerald Necklace Chapter of Trout Unlimited are partnering through a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service grant. The project involves the restoration of part of Sulphur Springs in the Cleveland Metroparks’ South Chagrin Reservation. Construction for the restoration project is scheduled for later this month.
The project has two goals, Ms. Brennan said. First, it aims to create a healthy, protected home for the rare Ohio brook trout and other animals that need high-quality coldwater streams. Second, it hopes to teach residents of the Sulphur Springs watershed about the special nature of their watershed and how they can help protect this unique resource.
There are concerns that the residential development upstream of Sulphur Springs has had a negative impact on its habitat quality. As a result, Ms. Brennan discussed with the committee components for an effective education and outreach program for the residents in the watershed.
The city has approximately 800 residential lots within the Sulphur Springs watershed, predominantly in the areas off Miles Road or off SOM Center Road (Route 91) between Miles and Cannon roads. Parts of Orange Village, Moreland Hills and Bentleyville are in the Sulphur Springs watershed.
City Engineer John J. Busch noted that the outreach program can be used to maintain compliance with Ohio Environmental Protection Agency’s Phase 11 requirements and potentially reduce inflow and infiltration into the city’s sanitary sewer.
The CRWP has proposed to distribute a flyer to city residents that promotes on-site stormwater control measures such as downspout disconnection to rain gardens. Other ways to help manage the water that falls on one’s property so as to cool it down and let it soak in the ground includes planting trees in the yard, using natural landscaping with native species and directing lawn sprinklers away from paved areas.
It was noted for the committee that, per the city’s code, there is a permit and associated fee to do a downspout disconnect, which is $50.
“We see that can be problematic,” Ms. Brennan said.
“Whether the city would want to entertain to waive that in support of this program has not yet been decided,” Mr. Busch said, adding that a lot of residents did the disconnect as a result of smoke and dye testing that was done and the city found pipes connected to the wrong sewer.
“Residents would do this as a corrective measure,” he said.
The fee was instituted after a rain storm in the summer of 2006 to cover administrative time involved with the process. “It is by no means a money-making proposition,” he noted.
Mr. Busch believes there could be some benefit to the city if residents disconnect their downspouts relative to efforts to eliminate inflow and infiltration into sewers.
The ultimate goal of the CRWP project would be to keep the water temperature as cool as possible to reintroduce that as a trout stream, Mr. Busch said.
“That is really a significant issue,” Ms. Brennan said of the water temperature. “It is a difficult habitat for fish.”
Mr. Busch indicated there will be ongoing discussion on this issue. Ms. Brennan said she is having similar discussions with Orange and Moreland Hills. The area in Bentleyville is owned by the metroparks.
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