The lower 46.5 miles of the Cuyahoga River, including all the tributaries that drain to that section of river, and the adjacent Lake Erie shoreline and its tributaries, comprise the Cuyahoga River Area of Concern (AOC). The AOC begins at the head of the Gorge Dam pool in Akron/Cuyahoga Falls, ends at Lake Erie, and includes the shoreline from the western Cleveland border to Euclid Creek on the east.
In 1992, part of the AOC, along the mainstem of the river and nearshore Lake Erie, was determined to be impaired for aesthetics.
The AOC Advisory Committee and Ohio EPA need your help in determining changes in these aesthetics over time. Your input will help to determine the current condition of aesthetics in this area, noting any improvements or further degradation.
For the purposes of this survey, aesthetics:
- are defined as “persistent occurrences of sludge deposits, oil sheens, scum, or other objectionable materials, specifically materials that produce color, odor or other nuisances.”
- are not considered impaired due to woody debris such as logs, branches, or leaves, or unclear, muddy-looking water after storm events, or algal problems, but by human-induced causes of impaired aesthetics.
- apply only to the water resource and not to anything else (e.g., graffiti, deteriorating infrastructure such as bridges barges, temporary activities tied to construction or demolition of buildings).
Surveys must be completed by September 30, 2016. Click here to take the survey.