The Acacia Reservation, formerly a private golf course in the eastern suburbs of Cleveland, had its water piped underground in tile drains and funneled off site as fast as possible to straightened and entrenched channels. In 2013, Cleveland Metroparks acquired the property, with the stipulation that it had to be restored to a natural setting. The first phase of that transformation was an ecological planning effort, to develop a framework for restoration of the property. Included within this plan was a focus on restoring the waterways and their surrounding floodplains in the reservation (Euclid Creek, its tributaries and the headwaters). Cleveland Metroparks utilized the Stream Function Pyramid to develop a framework to guide achievable restoration goals and objectives. Biohabitats successfully implemented the restoration goals and objectives through a restoration design/build contract with Metroparks.
Results/Conclusions
Over 900 linear feet of a channelized Euclid Creek was transformed to a meandering base flow channel with all storm discharges flowing across a newly excavated floodplain. Springs and seeps were daylighted in the headwaters and spread out into wetland pockets that hydrate the landscape and provide an aquatic and terrestrial oasis for 22 acres of restoration. Two tributaries to Euclid Creek were restored – daylighting 150 linear feet of buried stream and restoring 793 linear feet of incised stream channels. Additionally, 2,739 linear feet of tile drains were removed to restore headwater wetland/stream systems. Since the completion of the project in 2017, initial success can be documented in the improvement of the Stream Function Pyramid scores, QHEI and HHEI scores, increases in species (terrestrial and aquatic) present on site (both diversity and overall numbers), creation of new wetlands, additional floodplain storage, reduction in downstream sedimentation and vegetation success. This presentation will step the audience from design to construction to monitoring, providing lessons learned along the way while showcasing the dramatic transformation from golf course to natural landscape.