Carrying the Torch - One year as Cuyahoga River AOC's Champion of the River

View fullsize

This Thursday our “reign” as Cuyahoga River AOC’s champion of the river comes to an end as a new champion will be recognized. We were honored to be recognized last November and we’re proud to have carried the river champion baton from 2023 champion Argonaut and hand it off to 2025 Champion the City of Cuyahoga Falls.

Yesterday’s Bedrock & Cleveland Cavaliers Cleveland Clinic Global Peak Performance Center ground-breaking event gave Share the River executive director Jim Ridge a moment to reflect. “It’s wonderful how a natural resource a city turned its back on is now being considered as a place people want to use as its front porch.'“ “Bedrock and the Cavs embrace of a revitalized natural resource like the Cuyahoga River is heartening and it’s sobering to consider some of us may be gone before the 15-20 years it will take to complete the $3.5 billion, 35-acre riverfront development project”.

Bedrock Riverfront Development Promotional Video (click image to play)

2024 proved challenging for Share the River as our original plans to schedule Blazing Paddles Paddlefest in June to avoid conflicting with the July Pan American Masters Games were thwarted when a heat dome descended upon northeast Ohio. The resulting blazing temperatures forced us to postpone our June 22 paddle. We were reminded of the wisdom of Rham Emmanuel’s quote. “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that [is] it’s an opportunity to do things that you think you could not do before.” In the wake of a thinly sourced article many stakeholders and event partners expressed confidence in Share the River’s vision and mission and we eventually charted a course that provided a make-up date for Blazing Paddles Paddlefest on the final weekend of summer. Our loyal paddlers were rewarded with a picture-perfect sunny day.

View fullsize

That image reminds us of another small win this summer when, ahead of his The City Club of Cleveland State of the Great Lakes Forum, Jeff Opperman, World Wildlife Fund’s Global Freshwater Lead Scientist, reached out to us, asking if we could provide Jeff an image he had seen of Cleveland’s Cuyahoga River. We like Jeff’s taste as Ken Busch’s capture of the 2019 Blazing Paddles Paddlefest preserved a narrative-changing moment of Cleveland’s hard-working river. We smiled when a room full of City Club forum attendees saw Cleveland’s waterfront brand reframed in one image.

We’ve always appreciated the duality of homonyms and the word recreate strikes us. When folks recreate on the Cuyahoga River they also recreate a narrative from the literal ashes of history. National Public Radio’s recent story on the Cuyahoga River’s comeback was a pep-talk for that evolution.

Which brings us to Cuyahoga River AOC’s beach clean-up and BUI removal celebration tomorrow (Thursday, October 17) at the Edgewater Beach House. Established in 1987, Cuyahoga River AOC’s restoration plan and actions are geared toward removal or remediation of Beneficial Use Impairments (BUIs) that either restrict uses of the waterways and Lake Erie (like not being able to swim at beaches) or present obstacles to healthy fish populations (like dams or lack of habitat) or degrade water quality. Tomorrow, a BUI comes off (Beach Closings / Recreational Contact The ability to safely use the beaches or have intimate contact with the water in the Area of Concern is primarily a matter of the levels of bacteria in the water) leaving four BUIs to be removed).

The actions of Cuyahoga River AOC provide organizations like Share the River the opportunity to promote the social, recreational and economic vibrancy of the comeback Cuyahoga River and we are grateful for their 2024 Champion of the River recognition. 2024 has been a great reminder that Share the River still has more work to do and that great opportunity awaits.

We’re pleased to pass the AOC’s Champion of the River torch to the City of Cuyahoga Falls. We smile at the talk we had at the Cuyahoga Falls Fest back in 2019 with Mayor Don Walters. Our interview has relevance today as Mayor Walters describes the potential removal of the 420-foot-wide, 60-foot-tall Gorge Dam. The removal process is now underway and scheduled to be completed in 2026. Mayor Walters is a tirelessly enthusiastic proponent of the Cuyahoga River’s importance to his community and the revitalized downtown Cuyahoga Falls.

We encourage you to be part of tomorrow’s Cuyahoga River AOC’s beach cleanup, BUI celebration and Champion of the River award. Registration is requested.