Issues

The large urban/suburban population affects the quality of Doan Brook in many ways:

Paved surfaces cause accelerated water runoff during storms, causing erosion and flooding downstream

Fertilizers applied to lawn areas contain nitrogen and phosphorus (contribute to weed growth in lakes and streams)

Vehicles operating daily deposit metals and petroleum pollutants to paved surfaces which are washed into the Doan Brook, the Shaker Lakes and other sensitive areas during storms.

Flooding:  Building on the Doan Brook watershed has both increased the
size of the watershed and increased the amount of rainfall that flows off the land to the stream.  University Circle and Rockefeller Park experience frequent flooding.

Dams, Culverts and Channels:  As the city grew around Doan Brook, the stream was confined in many places.  In some places, it was forced underground into culverts.  In other places it was dammed to provide waterpower.  In still other places it was channelized, confined between rigid walls in rectangular channels.  All these changes degraded the ability of the stream to support aquatic life, as did increased flooding and deteriorating water quality.

Pollution:  Development of the city around Doan Brook led to significant contamination of the stream.  Bacteria from periodic sanitary sewage discharges, pet waste, duck/goose waste, etc., as well as lawn chemicals and other contaminants that typically run off yards and streets impact Doan Brook today. Doan Brook’s water violates Ohio criteria for bacteria contamination more than 80 percent of the time.

Action Plan

The Action Plan was written in-house by the Partnership Board of Trustees and its Executive Director between April 2002 and January 2004.  The Plan was amended in September 2004.

The complete Doan Brook Watershed Partnership Action Plan (Acrobat File).

Download the free Adobe Reader ® Software to read the Action Plan.

Executive Summary

The Doan Brook Watershed Partnership (the Partnership) was created in November 2001 to serve as the central point of contact and coordination for all matters pertaining to the health of Doan Brook. The Partnership was created by the cities of Cleveland, Cleveland Heights and Shaker Heights (the three cities comprising the Doan Brook watershed); other primary stakeholders include the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes, and University Circle Incorporated, and dedicated individuals who for over 30 years advocated for the protection and enhancement of Doan Brook, its watershed and the upper watershed area known as the Shaker Parklands. Federal non-profit status was granted to the Partnership in April 2003.

From June 1998 to March 2001, the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District sponsored the Doan Brook Watershed Study Committee process, a multi-stakeholder effort that scoped problems and recommended over 80 solutions for improving the brook. The Study Committee devised four (4) separate management plans to address channel and floodplain management, the biotic community, stormwater, and wastewater management. It was through the Study Committee that the concept of forming a "watershed council," "watershed authority" or some other watershed-wide coordinating body was set.

The Partnership's 11-member Board of Trustees became fully staffed in March 2002 and has been meeting at least bi-monthly since. Current officers (the Executive Committee) are Darnell Brown, President; Nancy Dietrich, Vice President; Laura Gooch, Treasurer; and Nancy Moore; Secretary. As of September 2004, other Trustees include Carl Czaga, Martin Reese, Dorothy Adams, Bryan Evans, Sabra Pierce Scott and Lester Stumpe. Victoria Mills serves as the Partnership's Interim Director, a capacity she has served in since July 2006. In September 2005, an Administrative Assistant, Helen Wolfe, was hired.

Doan Brook is about 8.5 miles in length, originating east of Warrensville Road in Shaker Heights. Two branches flow through Green, Marshall and Horseshoe (Upper) lakes, before joining at the marsh at the NatureCenter at Shaker Lakes environmental education center. The brook then flows through Lower Lake (the oldest surface water impoundment in Ohio, built by Shakers in the 1830s), through a narrow gorge west of Coventry Road, and into a mile-long culvert at Ambler Park (recently renamed Rudy Rodgers Memorial Scout Park) in the city of Cleveland. Doan Brook emerges near the Cleveland Museum of Art and flows as an open stream for two (2) miles through Rockefeller Park before again entering a culvert for another two-thirds of a mile under the Dike 14 confined material disposal site. Doan Brook then discharges to Lake Erie. (Click for map of the Doan Brook Watershed)

The watershed, or drainage area, of Doan Brook is approximately 7,500 acres in size. Another 4,500 acres of sanitary sewers currently drain to the Doan Brook watershed, with periodic raw sewage discharges occurring during wet weather events. This "combined sewer overflow" problem will be remedied in time through construction of large combination sanitary and stormwater sewers. For the time being, combined sewer overflows represent the largest source of bacteria and pathogens to Doan Brook.

Other sources of pollution to the brook from its heavily urbanized watershed area include metals, salt, oil and grease from roadways and parking lots; pesticides and fertilizers from lawn and landscaped areas; bacteria from pet and other animal waste; and sediment from non-vegetated areas. Hydrologic modifications, primarily the paving and introduction of impervious surfaces (some 28% of the watershed today is rooftop, street, sidewalk, and parking lot), affect rainfall and snowmelt runoff, causing erosion and degrading stream habitat.

This Action Plan for the Doan Brook Watershed (the Plan) provides the purpose, vision and goals for the Doan Brook Watershed Partnership as it works with its watershed partners to make improvements to the Doan Brook. The Plan strives to be a technical guidance document, like most watershed management plans, but also serves as the overarching policy and organizational document for the Partnership itself. Goals, actions and a system for monitoring the progress of work done on behalf of Doan Brook are key components of the Plan.

The Action Plan for the Doan Brook Watershed is intentionally straightforward and hopefully easy to use, relying on previous works for supporting information while concentrating on goals, priorities and actions from which real improvements will result. The Plan is to be a "living document," deliberately reviewed and revised each year.

Accomplishments
(2004) 

• Finalized the Action Plan for the Doan Brook Watershed, a blueprint for protecting and enhancing Doan Brook
• Produced two issues of the Brook Notes newsletter to increase public awareness of the Doan Brook and its watershed
• Worked with the City of Shaker Heights, the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes and Ohio EPA to secure a Clean Water Act Sec. 319 grant ($255,388), providing watershed education programs for school children and adults, working with volunteers to stencil storm drains and affix no dumping; disks on storm drains (the Cleveland heights portion of the Doan Brook Watershed), undertaking a pilot stream restoration project in the South Branch Doan Brook watershed, testing innovative stormwater management projects, and more.
• Provided technical lake management assistance to reduce plant and algae growth in Green and Marshall Lakes, as well as planning for improved management of the original Shaker Lakes:  Horseshoe (Upper)Lake and Lower Lake
• Activated the Watershed Education Committee (at the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes) to guide watershed education activities, and convened meetings of Partnership committees (4 total).   
• Provided technical assistance for city's Phase II Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plans.
• Worked with numerous stakeholders to project historic/cultural resources while providing for the ecological restoration of the Doan Brook in Rockefeller as part of Cleveland's $5.5 million brook restoration project.
•    Sponsored a watershed-wide brook cleanup and outreach concert events.
• Participated in other planning efforts, including the City of Cleveland Lakefront and Dike 14 plans, the Rudy Rogers Memorial Scout Park(At Amber park) dedication, and the Horseshoe Lake Park Master Plan. 

Accomplishments
(2005)  

• Reached agreement with the Shaker Heights Country Club to jointly undertake a 600' long pilot stream restoration project on the South Branch Doan Brook as part of our Ohio EPA 319 grant work
  
• Secured a grant through the Ohio Lake Erie Commission to restore a 300' portion of Doan Brook and provide stream ecology education on the Shaker School District campus
• Completed the Doan Brook Watershed Partnership Development Plan, setting funding goals and strategies through 2008.
• Received special operational support gifts from The Cleveland Foundation, The Mandel Foundation and two local families
• Community support through our annual Request for Doan-ations, increased 42% over the previous year
• Provided match for our Ohio EPA 319 grant  with George Gund Foundation funds to support the expansion of watershed education programs at The Nature Center at Shaker Lakes, including 'Laudable Lawns and Home Habitats,' 'Volunteer Stream Monitoring,' 'Building a Backyard Rain Barrel,' 'Storm Drain Stenciling' and others
• Held our Annual Partners Meeting at Shaker Heights Country Club, with 88 partners participating
• Produced two issues of our newsletter Brook Notes to increase awareness of the Doan Brook and its watershed and to provide information on our progress
• Worked with the City of Shaker Heights, John Carroll University and residents to coordinate and provide technical assistance on management of the Shaker Lakes, with special attention on environmentally safe control of plants and algae in Green and Marshall lakes
• Supported plans for the ecological restoration of Dike 14 at the northern end of Doan Brook on Lake Erie, for improvements to Rudy Rodgers Memorial Scout Park at Ambler Park in Cleveland, and for Horseshoe Lake Park in Shaker Heights and Cleveland Heights
• Moved into the final year of our Ohio EPA Clean Water Act Sec. 319 grant, including contracting to: prepare a watershed management plan for the South Branch Doan Brook, implement innovative storm water practices, study city management practices affecting water quality, assess the hydrology of the Upper South Branch for opportunities to detain and treat storm water runoff
• Hosted two forums on watershed economics and restoration through our Watershed Education Committee in partnership with CWRU's Center for Regional Economic Issues, with hundreds of people in attendance
• Provided assistance on Phase II storm water pollution management program to our watershed cities
• Supported the City of Cleveland in finalizing the design and bidding process for construction of the 'Rockefeller Park Doan Brook Restoration Project,' including signing the multi-stakeholder project Memorandum of Agreement after conclusion of the federal Sec. 106 historic/cultural review process
• Organized a watershed-wide brook cleanup and participated in public outreach events, including the Cedar-Fairmont Festival, the Burning River Fest, Jazz at the Rockefeller Greenhouse and The Nature Center's 'Hike for the Jenny Fund'

Accomplishments
(2006)

• Constructed a 500-foot long natural stream restoration project on the South Branch Doan Brook at Shaker Heights Country Club as a demonstration on which to pattern future brook restoration work.*
  
• Completed the Doan Brook Watershed Partnership Development Plan 2005-2008 establishing funding priorities, goals and strategies.
• Received special operational support gifts from The Cleveland Foundation, The Mandel Foundation and two family funds.
• Community support through our annual Request for Doan-ations campaign increased 132% over the previous year, with donations received from 114 households, an increase of 93% over the previous year.
• Provided match for our Ohio EPA 319 grant  with George Gund Foundation funds to support the expansion of watershed education programs at The Nature Center at Shaker Lakes, including 'Laudable Lawns and Home Habitats,' 'Volunteer Stream Monitoring,' 'Building a Backyard Rain Barrel,' 'Storm Drain Stenciling' and others.
• Produced two issues of our newsletter Brook Notes to increase awareness of the Doan Brook and its watershed and to provide information about our progress.
• In the final year of our Ohio EPA Clean Water Act Sec. 319 grant, undertook technical consulting studies including: i) a nonpoint source pollution control plan for the South Branch Doan Brook CREATE LINK TO LAKE MANAGEMENT PLAN HERE., ii) an assessment of City of Shaker Heights management practices affecting water quality, and iii) a hydrologic assessment of the Upper South Branch Doan Brook watershed for opportunities to detain and treat storm water runoff.
• Organized a watershed-wide brook cleanup and participated in public education/outreach events, including the Cedar-Fairmont Festival, the Cuyahoga Burning River Fest, Jazz at the Rockefeller Greenhouse, the Beauty and Sustainability - Gardens for the 21st Century symposium held at the Cleveland Botanical Garden, and several events hosted by The Nature Center at Shaker Lakes

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Last revised: Thursday June 14, 2007