Marcourt Farms Chagrin River Restoration

Stream and riparian restoration using an engineered log complex enhances the beauty, accessibility, and ecological function of a beloved State Scenic River and direct tributary to Lake Erie.

Though the Chagrin River borders the Cleveland metropolitan region, it has retained relatively high water quality and riparian forest cover and supports diverse terrestrial and aquatic plant communities and wildlife. It has also been designated a State Scenic River. However, development in the watershed, combined with the removal of upstream dams, has caused the degradation of a portion of the Chagrin River that flows through the Marcourt Farms subdivision of the Village of Hunting Valley. Severely eroded, with banks as high as 15 feet, the reach had become unstable, unsafe, and compromised in terms of water quality and habitat.

With funding from the Ohio EPA, and in partnership with the Chagrin River Watershed Partners, Western Land Conservancy, and private landowners, the Village of Hunting Valley turned to the team of Biohabitats and Meadville Land Service for help in restoring 500 feet of the reach.

The team considered aesthetics, safety, and maintenance alongside stream stability and health. The approach, which emphasized the use of on-site material and alternatives to rock, included installing an engineered log complex to stabilize the toe of bank, slow near bank velocities, and direct flow away from the bank and soil lifts and live branch layering to stabilize slopes and provide roughness, habitat, and shading. It also restored riparian habitat and floodplain connectivity through native plantings and grading. The first large scale engineered log complex stream restoration project ever built in Northeast Ohio, the project demonstrates a promising alternative to traditional rip-rap and rock stabilization.

TAGS

• Ecological Restoration