The Cuyahoga River, which is part of a system of waterways that feed Lake Erie, is itself fed by a system of smaller streams that drain the land within the Cuyahoga River watershed.

River Alterations. The main channel of the Cuyahoga River is navigable for approximately 5.8 miles upstream from its mouth at Lake Erie. This part of the River is maintained by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers by annual dredging. The natural depth of the River is from 3 to 6 feet but the River is dredged to a depth of approximately 26 feet to accommodate 680 foot long bulk transport ships that carry iron ore, limestone and stone for the steel works and the construction industry. In addition to being deepened, the River has also been widened and straightened in places along the navigation channel.

Water Flow. As a result, the flow of water has been slowed in the navigation channel. It takes 10 hours for water to flow from the point that the Cuyahoga River enters Cuyahoga County to the beginning of the navigation channel, a total of 15 miles. It then takes that water 10 days to move from the head of navigation to the mouth of the River. Where the River's rate of flow slows down, the rate of sediment deposition increases and is especially high in the vicinity of the docks of ISG steel.

Old River Channel. The Old River Channel to the west of the River's mouth is a dead end and tends toward stagnation and pollution buildup. Originally the main channel and the old river channel meandered through extensive wetlands before discharging into the Lake. Those wetlands and virtually all riparian (river bank) vegetation are gone, replaced by man-made bulkheading. Habitat, shading and filtering functions have been lost.

Beyond Navigation Channel. Further upstream (to the south) beyond the limit of navigation, the Cuyahoga River channel improves slowly, with a return of some riparian habitat as the density of industrial uses lessens. Uses incompatible with maintaining water quality such as landfills, storage, large paved parking areas and small industrial buildings continue to operate in the Valley up to the boundary of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Once in the National Park, the river system improves to much healthier conditions.

Creeks and Streams. There are several major tributaries of the Cuyahoga River within Cuyahoga County and hundreds of smaller tributary stream valleys and intermittent stream valleys. Every one of these waterways eventually connects to Lake Erie through the main channel of the Cuyahoga River. Most of the tributaries that feed the Cuyahoga River have been altered and negatively impacted by landfills, transportation projects and altered water volumes due to surrounding development. In the older developed portions of the County a number of these main tributaries have been filled over, often being incorporated into the region's sewer system.

Buffering Streams. Many smaller tributaries are located in steep narrow valleys that are often still wooded. These small valleys contributed significantly to the maintenance of water quality in the whole system. They help in the sediment, nutrient and flood control, provide habitat corridors, shading and water nourishment. Gradual loss of such small streams may not be noticeable in the short run but could eventually add up to a serious decline in overall water quality. Filling, culverting and channelization as part of development and transportation projects are major threats to these areas and should be strongly discouraged.

Sewers and Stormwater. In older parts of the region the same sewers carry both storm water and sanitary water. During heavy rains the volume of rainwater is often more than the sewer system can handle. The excess water volume (which usually includes unprocessed sanitary waste) bypasses pipes to sewage treatment facilities and is instead discharged directly into the waterways through combined sewer outfalls (CSO's). The untreated sewage that flows directly into the waterways after heavy rains has a major impact on the quality of water in the Cuyahoga River and Lake Erie.

A program to relieve the problem of CSO's is being implemented which includes deep underground storage chambers. The performance and longevity of such solutions would be enhanced by retrofitting urban areas by taking advantage of available land such as brownfields and other vacant sites to provide surface drainage, stream daylighting and infiltration of storm water within the fabric of the city.