A volunteer planting a large container tree | Garfield Reservation, April 2022

[Photo credit: Cleveland Metroparks]

Planting Trees for Watershed Health

Hi Watershed Stewards,

We hope you've been having a wonderful, nature-filled summer! If you've been volunteering with us for a while, you know that the autumn months are an amazing time to participate in our last big restoration work push before winter. If you've been waiting to flex your native vegetation planting and tree planting skills, now's your time to shine! (New to planting trees with WVP? View our How to Plant a Tree video.)

Planting trees is a fantastic way to improve watershed health. Trees help to reduce stormwater runoff by capturing and storing rainwater. Trees improve air and water quality by absorbing pollutants. Trees increase biodiversity, create fish habitat, and help fight climate change.

Studies have also shown that humans greatly benefit from being surrounded by trees. Some of the healing effects include improving your focus, reducing blood pressure, and decreasing anxiety (learn more).

Check out our Events page to see our September event offerings (including a Tree Care event later this evening in Brighton Park!).

We hope you can join us for these restoration opportunities and, as always, we greatly appreciate your continued devotion to protecting our watersheds!

Unique Opportunities Alert!

We have some extra-special events for September we'd like to highlight:

Join us at the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District's (NEORSD) annual Clean Water Fest as either a WVP Outreach Volunteer (multiple shifts available) or a festival attendee! Festival activities will include tours of the Southerly Wastewater Treatment Center (including an active state-of-the-art science lab), exhibit booths, guest speakers, music, games, bike tours, giveaways, and more!

Interested in learning more about Harmful Algal Blooms in Lake Erie? Join fellow WVP Stewards, Cleveland Metroparks Staff, and our partners in attending a Talk and Documentary Viewing of the award-winning film, The Erie Situation (view the trailer here) at the Donahue Auditorium in the Dolan Science Center at John Carroll University.

After the film, we will have an opportunity to participate in a Question & Answer session with Executive Director of Lake Erie Waterkeeper Sandy Bihn, Former Director of Ohio Sea Grant and Stone Laboratory Jeff Reutter, PhD, Water Quality Supervisor for the Division of Surface Water at the Ohio EPA Bill Zawiski, and the film's Director/Producer David Ruck.

We'd love to hear about your journey and what makes you passionate about water quality. We also encourage you to share your journey with the world, your friends and your neighbors using the hashtag #NEOWaterSteward.

Best, 

Taelor Benoit (he/they)

Watershed Volunteer Program Coordinator

Watershed Reflections

Watershed volunteers you did great work in August! We ramped up our restoration efforts and contributed more than 275 hours to tackling invasives, caring for green infrastructure and taking care of trees! Our teasel tackling team beat back the West Creek Reservation meadow teasel and Natural Area Manager Val sends her gratitude for this successful effort. Our monitors continue to do great work and the Harmful Algal Bloom monitoring program is kicking off.  

For all of your efforts our gratitude has no bounds. We hope you all enjoyed Labor Day weekend and a brief respite from watershed work last week, September offers many opportunities to get reengaged starting tonight at Brighton Park.

Nitrate and phosphate test vials from Bonnie Park monitoring

| [Photo credit: Dave Lebrun]

Value of Volunteer Monitoring

One of our WVP volunteers, Dave LeBrun, recently spotted higher than normal nutrient levels at Bonnie Park. Dave has been a long-term water chemistry monitor with WVP. He began monitoring at the Bonnie Park sites in 2019.

"Bonnie Park is very close to my house so I consider it part of my backyard. I have been a part of the wetland and stream rehabilitation through planting live stakes along the stream bank and removing invasives. Water testing is a natural extension of that. Keeping tabs on the water quality helps to maintain the gains that have been made through this project."​ - Dave LeBrun

Our monitors help to fill in the data gaps and provide the necessary observations to identify potential sources of pollution.  Thank you to Dave and all of our volunteer monitors. To read more about how WVP and our partners, Cuyahoga SWCD addressed high nutrient levels at Bonnie Park, please click the button below.

Natural Resources Area Manager Valerie Carter-Stone guides Watershed Stewards through the process of removing and sorting willow trees | West Creek Reservation, August 2022

[Photo credit: Cleveland Metroparks]

(R) Work Session: Tree Care

Wed, Sep 7, 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. @ Brighton Park

(L) Monday Meetup: Doan Brook Watershed Partners*

Mon, Sep 12, 1 - 3 p.m. @ Wilson Elementary School, Cleveland

(O) Outreach Event: Clean Water Fest

Sat, Sep 17, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. (Multiple shift options available)

@ Southerly Wastewater Treatment Center

(M) Training: Scenic Rivers Macro Monitoring

Wed, Sep 21, 10 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. @ North Chagrin Reservation

(R) Work Session: Foster's Run Tree Planting

Wed, Sep 21, 5:30 - 8 p.m. @ North Chagrin Reservation

(R) Work Session: Bioretention Planting & Care**

Fri, Sep 23, 10 a.m. - noon @ Mill Stream Run Reservation

(R) Work Session: Willow Harvesting

Mon, Sep 26, 9 a.m. - noon @ West Creek Reservation

(R) Work Session: Bioretention Care**

Tue, Sep 27, 5 - 7 p.m. @ Brookside Reservation

(L) Talk + Documentary Viewing: The Erie Situation

Wed, Sep 28, 7 - 9 p.m. @ Dolan Science Center

(R) Work Session: Tree Care

Fri, Sep 30, 10 a.m. - noon @ Towpath Trail/Clark Field

*Open to the public, email us to register.

**Open to Master Rain Gardeners, email us to register.

WVP volunteers, please log into Volgistics to register.

Ohio Sea Grant | 2022 Stone Laboratory Open House*

Sep 10, 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. Learn about the facilities and experiences available at Ohio Sea Grant's Stone Laboratory! Tour the 6.5 acre island, the Historic South Bass Island Lighthouse, and Stone Laboratory itself. Lectures and laboratory sessions will be available as well as summer class information, publications, and historical photos. | Register here

Cleveland Metroparks | Life: Along the Creek*

Sep 13, 10 - 11 a.m. Join Naturalist Jake Kudrna on a walk along Big Creek to search for pileated woodpeckers, pawpaws, and other creek-side wildlife. | Register here

Cuyahoga Soil & Water District | Green Yards and Healthy Homes*

Sep 15, 6 - 7:30 p.m. Join Cuyahoga SWCD at Newburgh Heights Community Room and learn how to replace chemicals in your yard and home with all-natural ingredients—your watershed will thank you! | Register here

Friends of Euclid Creek | Trashy Streams and Beaches: Plastic Pollution in our Waters and What We Can Do About it*

Sep 20, 6:30 p.m. Join Friends of Euclid Creek and Anne Jefferson from Kent State University at the Beachwood Library for this program about studying trash in our local waterways. | Register here

Early Settlers | Cuyahoga Tree Symposium*

Sep 23, 9 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. Learn about legacy tree studies, community health benefits of trees, assessing current planting programs, and getting trees to underserved neighborhoods. Click here to learn more about this event | Register here

Ohio Sea Grant | Freshwater Science: A Toxin Forecast for Lake Erie's Harmful Algal Blooms*

Sep 29, 12 - 12:30 p.m. Join Dr. Justin Chaffin in this online webinar to discover the environmental factors that cause Lake Erie algal blooms to become toxic or remain non-toxic. | Register here



Assessment and Prioritization of Culverts for Enhanced Fish Passage* 

Click here to see presenter Natalie Kruse-Daniels of Ohio University talk about an ODOT project to prioritize culvert upgrades for fish passage. 

Cleveland Metroparks | Digital Emerald Necklace*

Read and watch here.

*WVP volunteers can submit supplemental hours in Volgistics under (S:L) Conference/Symposium/Workshop/Webinar/Tour by Sep 30.

Hundreds of freshwater jellyfish, like the one pictured above,

were recently discovered in Minnesota's Leech Lake.

[Photo Credit: James Hoffman]

Meijer is the First Retailer to Unveil Beach and Water Cleaning Drones in the Great Lakes | Read on

Medina County Park District Begins Work on New Nature Preserve | Read on

Poliovirus Detected in Wastewater Samples in New York City, Health Officials Say | Read on

Angler Finds Hundreds of Jellyfish Native to China in a Minnesota Lake | Read on

Brick West Brewing goes Salmon Safe with New Beer  | Read on

Natural Resources Project Assistant - PT

Cleveland Metroparks – Hinckley Reservation | Apply here

Chagrin River Watershed Partner NOWCorps Positions

Willoughby OH | Apply here

Multiple NOWCorps Positions

Varies - Northeast OH | Apply here

Stormwater Specialist II

Summit SWCD – Akron, OH | Apply here

Wetland Biologist

EnviroScience – Asheville-Hendersonville, NC | Apply here

Green Infrastructure Worker (Posted August 15)

Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District – Cuyahoga Heights, OH | Apply here

General Construction Stormwater Inspector

WA Dept. of Ecology – Lacey, WA | Apply here

Outreach Educator/Watershed Coordinator  

Tinkers Creek Watershed Partners – Twinsburg, OH | Apply here

NOWCorps Member Coordinator

Tinkers Creek Watershed Partners – Twinsburg, OH | Apply here

Water Resources Engineering Project Manager 

Davey Tree - Gainesville, VA | Apply here

Stormwater Program Manager

Licking Soil & Water Conservation District - Newark, OH | Apply here

Conservation Educator

Licking Soil & Water Conservation District - Newark, OH | Apply here