A one-mile stretch of the Little Cuyahoga River in Akron’s Middlebury neighborhood will soon be improved. Officials plan to remove two low-head dams (dams designed to allow water to flow over the top) and restore two damaged riverbank environment areas.
The improvements will be funded by more than $2.6 million awarded from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. Congress created this program in partnership with Canada. The initiative helps communities cover the costs of cleaning up pollution. It also helps combat invasive species and restores native habitats throughout the Great Lakes watershed.
Directory of Public Service Chris Ludle told council members on Feb. 9 that they have worked on getting this funding for two to three years to get the funding. He credited the engineering staff for getting the grant proposal put together.
Project planned for four sites on Little Cuyahoga River
“This project is actually at four different sites,” said Heather Ullinger, a senior engineer for the City of Akron who is helping to lead the project. “There are two sites that are related to dam removal and two sites that are just normal river restoration with no dams involved.”…