Make your voice heard TODAY on proposed Clean Water Act revision!

The day after Christmas we were treated to a pleasant surprise. We reposted Signal Cleveland’s article by Devin Nunnari regarding proposed EPA rule changes to the Clean Water act. The post clearly struck a nerve with our audience and followers interested in the benefits of continued Clean Water Act protections.

Our Facebook post blew up with 735 shares, resulting in over 108,000 views. If you were one of those folks, thank you for caring about the importance of our nation’s natural resources. We never tire of reminding people the Cuyahoga River has come a long way baby - but there is still more work to do! You can now submit a formal comment to the EPA.

Today is the LAST day for you to comment to the EPA on the proposed updated definition of “Waters of the United States,” modifying the Clean Water Act. We’ve always believed clean water is a bipartisan issue as it is an essential quality of life metric and economic driver for the region.

Write a comment to the EPA on the proposed Updated Definition of ‘‘Waters of the United States’’

Every year we see hundreds of paddlers traveling to Cleveland to discover and explore the unique joys of Cleveland’s comeback Cuyahoga River during our annual Blazing Paddles Paddlefest. Let’s make sure America’s rivers don’t ebb back to the bad ol’ days.

Cuyahoga Connects stakeholder pep-talks

The fifth annual Cuyahoga Connects (formerly the CWIOFB “Cleveland’s Waterfront is Open for Business” press conference and mixer) was convened by Share the River on behalf of the Cuyahoga River Safety Task Force (CRSTF) on Wednesday May 21 from 3:00-5:30 p.m. at Collision Bend Brewing Co.

Cuyahoga Connects also served as the “2 month away” kick-off for Share the River’s Seventh Annual Blazing Paddles Paddlefest on July 19, 2025.

Cuyahoga Connects brought together maritime partners, law enforcement, waterfront industries and businesses, governmental agencies, and recreation stakeholders, to share their respective vision for a safe, accessible, and productive waterfront, the importance of clean water, and its impact on the regional economy.

Waterfront stakeholders provided a short briefing, followed by a Q&A, followed by a casual connections happy hour by the Cuyahoga River.

Participating speakers/organizations:

  • Eric Peace, Lake Carriers’ Association

  • Jared Magyar & Kierra Cotton, Port of Cleveland

  • Lt. Chad Kozan - ODNR Watercraft

  • Lt. Sasha Queary, US Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Cleveland

  • Drew Ferguson - Argonaut

  • Jim Ridge - Share the River

  • Emily Bacha - Cuyahoga County/Fresh Water Institute

  • Bill Hughes - Cuyahoga River Area of Concern

  • Michelle Burke - Ohio Marine Trades Assn.

  • Jessica Shutty, Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District

Progressive Cleveland Boat Show Kicks of our Waterfront Planning for Cleveland’s Summer of 2025!

Progressive Cleveland Boat Show Kicks of our Waterfront Planning for Cleveland’s Summer of 2025!

Is there a better way to kick off a new year of Cleveland waterfront event planning in early winter than 4 days of H2O lifestyle fun at the Progressive Cleveland Boat Show? For us, it’s a definite yes. A challenging year followed by some self-imposed downtime gave way to the kick in the pants the boat show provides us.

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

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

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”.

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Working & Learning at the Pan-American Masters Games Cleveland 2024 Triathlon

Working & Learning at the Pan-American Masters Games Cleveland 2024 Triathlon

We can honestly say Sunday’s Pan-American Master Games (PAMG) Triathlon was easily our WORST ever effort documenting a Cleveland waterfront event. But it was our best experience helping battle-hardened outdoor recreation event planning veterans ensure the event was a fun and safe experience for locals and recreational tourists from Afghanistan. Brazil, Canada, Hungary, India, Mexico, Mongolia, and Switzerland enjoy Cleveland.

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Earth Day - this is Cleveland's Cuyahoga River NOW!

Earth Day - this is Cleveland's Cuyahoga River NOW!

We do wish more journalists (and their editors) would flip the script and instead of looking back on the bad old days, they take a look at the ONE river in the world that can elegantly and directly speak to how far the ecological movement has come for a variety of reasons.

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Connecting the Franklin Blvd. Detour Dots Between the Ohio to Erie Trail and Towpath Trail

Connecting the Franklin Blvd. Detour Dots Between the Ohio to Erie Trail and Towpath Trail

The long-awaited beginning of the Irishtown Bend hillside stabilization project finally arrived this week. Franklin Blvd. a key connector from 25th St. to Columbus Rd. will be shut down until fall of 2025.

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2023 Red Bull Flugtag Cincinnati - lunacy on the Ohio River!

2023 Red Bull Flugtag Cincinnati - lunacy on the Ohio River!

Saturday August 12 was an epic day in Ohio (known as the “birthplace of aviation”) as Red Bull Flugtag Cincinnati took over the Ohio River for a day of fun, frivolity, and engineering failures. Cincinnati was the only city in the United States to host Flugtag this year and it seemed appropriately ironic given the nearby location of the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park where “Arguably, the human imagination found its highest expression in two men from Dayton, Ohio: Wilbur and Orville Wright, first to fly a powered, heavier-than-air machine and creators of the practical airplane.

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Remembering Tommy Piros - by Edie Call

Remembering Tommy Piros - by Edie Call

For those who didn’t know him, Tommy was a kayaker. Not just any kayaker; an exceptionally talented whitewater kayaker, sponsored by Jackson Kayak. He loved running wild rivers and stout waterfalls, and he did it with his own unique style and grace. His whole family kayaks, and they’re all really, REALLY good. Tommy started paddling before he was out of diapers. The guy basically grew up on the water and he was always up for an adventure.

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Happy 53rd Anniversary Earth Day! Blazing Paddles Paddlefest is the photo-op for the comeback Cuyahoga River

Happy 53rd Anniversary Earth Day! Blazing Paddles Paddlefest is the photo-op for the comeback Cuyahoga River

For several years we used to recognize Earth Day by prowling the Cuyahoga River shoreline, in an effort to show still images and video of how the comeback Cuyahoga River looked and felt now - as opposed to pulling up five decade-old images from the bad ol’ days at the dawn of Earth Day.

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Blazing Paddles Paddlefest thoughts at Brite Winter 2023

Blazing Paddles Paddlefest thoughts at Brite Winter 2023

As we finalize planning for our Fifth Annual Blazing Paddles Paddlefest on July 21-22, 2023 we’re VERY curious about what you’d like us to provide (remember, “a vision without resources is a hallucination” and YES, sponsorship and organization partner opportunities are available) so our rapidly growing Cleveland waterfront event sustainably and properly represents Cleveland’s cool summer vibe that Brite Winter does so well in winter.

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