Upper Foster’s Run Stream Restoration

Scars from past development were replaced with high-quality riparian, wetland, and forest habitat within 585 feet of restored stream corridor.

In 2021, Cleveland Metroparks received funding from the H2Ohio program to restore Foster’s Run. A lower reach of Foster’s Run had been the site of an earlier restoration project, but erosion, sedimentation, and nutrient loading in a 585-foot upstream section due to abandoned infrastructure was threatening habitat and water quality.

Using a Construction Manager at Risk delivery method, Cleveland Metroparks hired Biohabitats to lead the restoration design — including a team of Schirmer Construction, Meadville Land Services, and Chagrin Valley Engineering — to stabilize and restore high quality riparian, wetland, and forest habitat to the degraded stream corridor following removal of an aging road and culvert infrastructure. The restored stream, which runs through a former pond, consists of six cobble riffle-pool structures providing a diversity of aquatic habitats and a naturally stabilized floodplain bench. The floodplain, composed largely of wetlands stabilized with log sills, live stakes, and native vegetation, accommodates large storm events. Boulder cascades, which replace a concrete culvert, transition into the existing downstream channel. The design also removes adjacent roadways and infrastructure and revegetates these areas with native vegetation.

The project removed the artificial and abandoned remnants of past development, restored natural stream morphology, maintained existing riparian wetlands, and restored forest and wetland habitat, forming a better-connected stream corridor with the lower reach of Foster’s Run.