| West Creek is located in the middle of Cuyahoga County and flows into the Cuyahoga River from the west and south. The creek and its tributaries drain from the communities of Parma, Seven Hills, Brooklyn Heights, Independence and a small area of the City of Cleveland and Broadview Heights, Ohio.
The West Creek Watershed covers 14 square miles of primarily residential and commercial land, and although it runs through heavily urbanized areas, the creek and its tributaries have retained significant riparian habitat. A dramatic gorge near its headwaters and deeply cut walls above wide floodplains within the valley protect large areas from urban encroachment and leave habitat to support plants and animals.
Through most of West Creek's flow, however, channelization, dam-building, development and rerouting of the stream have changed the hydrology of the creek so severely that it can no longer serve as an effective storm water management asset and still retain natural ecological functions.
The West Creek Preservation Committee has been quite successful in purchasing greenspace and obtaining land for conservation that will contribute to the health and restoration of the watershed and the creek. The new West Creek Reservation, a joint venture of the City of Parma, Cleveland Metroparks and the West Creek Preservation Committee, will keep 278 acres of diverse and valuable greenspace protected and further support the watershed.
Excellent details about the watershed are to be found in the West Creek Watershed Action Plan which you can download from the Preservation Committee's excellent web site.
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