Blog

Jun 25, 2023

Sewer district preps for Lower Shaker Lake spillway inspection by moving native fish downstream (Updated)

A crew from the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District caught and released 2,558 native species fish at Lower Shaker Lake on Aug. 23. This was ahead of plans to lower the water level by 18 inches

A crew from the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District caught and released 2,558 native species fish at Lower Shaker Lake on Aug. 23. This was ahead of plans to lower the water level by 18 inches during the week of Labor Day to inspect the 150-year-old dam and spillway. The fish were re-introduced further downstream into Doan Brook. Invasive species such as carp and goldfish were left behind, as required by state guidelines.Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD)

SHAKER HEIGHTS, Ohio -- In anticipation of Lower Shaker Lake getting a little lower for a spillway inspection the week of Labor Day, Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD) crews have already relocated as many of the native fish species as possible.

That successful effort worked out to 2,558 fish netted and moved immediately downstream in Doan Brook near Coventry Road, all in one day on Aug. 23.

To accomplish this feat, the sewer district’s Water Quality and Industrial Surveillance (WQIS) Department used a technique called “electrofishing,” with a small flat-bottom boat that shoots enough of an electric current into the water to stun the fish so they can be scooped up with a net on a long pole.

Crew members have to wear rubber waders and gloves to prevent shocks to the human system if they come in contact with metal throughout the process.

Plans call for lowering the lake by about 18 inches beginning Sept. 5, at which time freshwater mussels will also be relocated downstream. The spillway inspection should wrap up by around Sept. 8.

The inspection will be needed for plans in the coming years to reconstruct Lower Lake’s 150-year-old historic “Class I (high-hazard)” dam and bring it into compliance with requirements set by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR).

Officials noted that invasive species of fish residing in Lower Lake will not be removed and may not be as fortunate once the lake level is lowered.

“Per ODNR regulations, we are not allowed to move any invasive species that are in the lake (mostly carp and goldfish) and we know that some of them will not survive,” NEORSD Business Strategy Program Manager Jennifer Pilkey Elting said ahead of potential “fish kills” that park-goers may witness.

As for the native species already moved downstream, they were mostly green sunfish (1,974 in all and one of the longest-living panfish), followed by pumpkinseed sunfish (also referred to as “pond perch” or “punkie,” 560).

The team also caught a dozen bluegill sunfish, seven largemouth bass, a single creek chub and four hybrid green and pumpkinseed sunfish.

Once the inspection is completed toward the end of next week, Lower Lake’s water level will gradually increase based on weather and precipitation, sewer district officials added.

Horseshoe dam update

Meanwhile, the Friends of Horseshoe Lake (FOHSL) last week filed a motion in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court to prevent the cities of Shaker Heights and Cleveland Heights from “taking any further action toward permanently destroying” the dam there while their cases remain on appeal.

Attorneys for the “Save Horseshoe Lake” contingent filed a “motion to stay execution and injunction pending appeal” after the consolidated cases were dismissed July 23 by Judge Nancy Margaret Russo.

That decision has been appealed to Ohio’s Eighth District appellate court in Cleveland by FOHSL attorneys Diane Calta and Anthony Coyne, with no date set for a hearing as of Monday (Aug. 28).

They are now asking Russo for an order to “maintain the status quo,” Calta said in a press release.

If the motion is denied in Common Pleas Court, it can then be filed with the Eighth District Court of Appeals as well.

“The motion asks the court to order that the cities not take any action, whether administratively or legislatively, to further the project to remove Horseshoe Lake and dam,” Calta added.

The press release states that the FOHSL lawsuits against Cleveland Heights, Shaker Heights and NEORSD remain based in part on the cities’ alleged violations of their lease agreements with the City of Cleveland -- which owns the parkland -- requiring them to preserve the existing conditions of the dam and assume responsibility for maintaining the park.

“Although the cities maintain that destroying the dam and lake is necessary for public safety, FOHSL, together with engineering experts TRC, developed a Horseshoe Lake Restoration Plan that would maintain a lake while also addressing environmental, safety, stormwater management and cost concerns,” the press release said.

Making a case

Five speakers appeared before Shaker Heights City Council on Aug. 28, urging officials to reconsider the current fate of Horseshoe Lake.

Korbi Roberts said that opponents successfully fended off attempts in the 1960s to build the Clark Freeway over the Shaker Lakes, leading to a federal law that prohibited highway construction over parkland.

“Enter NEORSD working to destroy this irreplaceable asset by putting in a paved truck maintenance road where a sparkling and filtering lake used to be,” Roberts said.

Penny Allen said the sewer district’s argument for removing the dam and lake doesn’t hold water if 2020 flooding in University Circle is being attributed to a lake that was drained in 2018.

Sewer district officials have countered that stormwater can still “overtop” the dam during heavy rains. Allen added that the projected cost had gone up from $14 million by as much as $6 million -- not counting the millions needed for amenities that the cities would have to pay.

Supporters of a lake say that the cost to repair or replace the dam might be more feasible than previously calculated. In the meantime the dam classification was changed to the higher-risk Class I since the 2013 Doan Brook Watershed Plan, Allen added.

Christine Heggie said the sewer district is “co-opting Horseshoe Lake for a retention basin without having to pay for it, saddling the cities of Shaker and Cleveland Heights with million-dollar bills for the amenities” falling outside the scope of the project.

In addition to Sonia Alvarez speaking in support of keeping the dam and lake, Sandra Johnson, a Shaker resident since 1959, noted that “looking at a ‘field meadow’ is not in any way comparable to a lake,” adding that it’s wrong not to put the Doan Brook restoration proposal to a vote by residents.

Read more from the Sun Press.

If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. By browsing this site, we may share your information with our social media partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.