Cuyahoga River Riverwood Restoration

The former Riverwood Golf Course provided an excellent opportunity to restore functionality to a large section of the Cuyahoga River and several headwater tributaries. The golf course modified the Cuyahoga and these tributaries extensively primarily for drainage and flood control / prevention. Therefore, the focus was to remove these numerous impairments and maximizing the restoration potential for the site focusing on approximately 3,784 linear feet of 3 tributaries.

Drainage tile removal, grading, and golf course grass eradication restored the wetland / floodplains adjacent to the Cuyahoga River. A large part of this restoration included hydraulically re-connecting the floodplain by removing up to 4,200 linear feet of berm. Re-establishment of a native riparian tree, shrub, and herbaceous riparian forest through plantings and prepping the floodplains for native recruitment was a significant project component. In-stream habitat in the form of riffle-pool complexes, bank stability, woody structures, boulder habitats, and riffle enhancements were also incorporated.