Going Green Project

The Chagrin River Watershed Partners, Inc., Cleveland Metroparks, and the Emerald Necklace Chapter of Trout Unlimited are partnering through a US Fish and Wildlife Service grant on the restoration of a part of Sulphur Springs in the Cleveland Metroparks’ South Chagrin Reservation.

The project has two goals:

Create a healthy, protected home for the rare Ohio brook trout and other animals that need high quality coldwater streams.
Teach residents of the Sulphur Springs watershed about the special nature of their watershed and how they can help protect this unique resource.

Did you know…

Parts of Orange Village, Moreland hills, Solon, and Bentleyville are in the Sulphur Springs watershed.
Sulphur Springs flows into the Chagrin River at the Miles Road Bridge and eventually makes its way to Lake Erie.
Sulphur Springs is a coldwater habitat stream, which means it maintains cool temperatures from the flow of groundwater into the stream.
Coldwater habitat streams are also known as “trout streams” because they hve the cold, clear water that trout need to survive.
The Chagrin River watershed has about 20 miles of coldwater habitat streams, which the most of any river in Ohio.
Healthy coldwater habitat streams are unique, high quality streams and need special management to preserve them.

Help Keep Stormwater out of Sulphur Springs!

What can I do to help? You can help by managing the water that falls on your property in a way that cools the water down and lets it soak into the ground. Simple steps like:

Planting a tree in your yard
Using natural landscaping with the native species
Disconnecting your downspout and installing storm water control measures like rain barrels and rain gardens
Directing lawn sprinklers away from paved areas

Slow it down, spread it out, soak it in!

Disconnect that Downspout: Stormwater Control Measures

A roof downspout can deliver 12 gallons of stormwater a minute to the storm sewer in a 1-inch rain. Reduce the amount of stormwater runoff that ends up in our streams by redirecting downspout flow to rain gardens or rain barrels.

Rain Gardens…

Are shallow, landscaped depressions with deep-rooted native plants.
Intercept water and allow it to infiltrate into the ground.
Provide stormwater control and natural habitat for birds and butterflies, and can be an attractive and useful landscaping feature.

Rain Barrels…

Intercept water from your roof and store it for future use.
Can be used for watering landscaping or lawns with free water that contains no chlorine, lime, or calcium.
Decrease the impact of stormwater runoff to streams.

Want to plant a rain garden? Interested in installing a rain barrel? Need a list of native species?

Contact:
Christina Znidarsic, Watershed Coordinator
Chagrin River Watershed Partners, Inc.
(440) 975-3870 or cznidarsic@crwp.org
http://www.crwp.org

Jennifer Greiser, Senior Natural Resource Manager
Cleveland Metroparks
(440) 331-8679 or jmg2@clevelandmetroparks.com
http://www.clevelandmetroparks.com