Cuyahoga County is intersected by 3 major watersheds: the Rocky, Cuyahoga, and Chagrin. In addition, much of the County drains directly to the shores of Lake Erie. Within those major watersheds are 32 smaller subwatersheds (Figure 8), ranging in size from 200 acres to more than 20,000 acres.

Research by Goetz et al. (2003) indicates that watersheds with 37% tree canopy can be categorized as “fair” in a stream health rating; watersheds with 45% tree canopy can be categorized as “good.”  While the countywide tree canopy overage is 37.5%, the extent within each subwatershed varies widely.

Figures:

Tree canopy metrics summarized by watershed

Tree Canopy Watersheds Graph

Existing tree canopy summarized by subwatershed

Existing Tree Canopy Summarized By Watershed Map

Possible planting area summarized by subwatershed

Possible Planting Area Summarized by Watershed

Tree canopy metrics summarized by subwatershed
Existing Tree CanopyPossible Planting Area VegetatedPossible Planting Area ImperviousNot Suitable for PlantingRank
NameTotal
Land
Cover,
Excluding
Water
(Acres)
AcresPercentAcresPercentAcresPercentAcresPercentExisting
Tree
Canopy
Existing
Impervious
Abrams Creek6,480.41,463.222.6%1,965.330.3%1,434.122.1%1,644.625.4%269
Baldwin Creek6,345.92,488.639.2%2,342.936.9%717.311.3%854.013.5%1620
Big Creek23,985.35,569.023.2%7,491.131.2%5,548.223.1%5,456.622.7%246
Brandywine Creek213.960.028.0%97.545.6%34.015.9%22.810.7%2317
Chagrin River Aurora Branch5,419.42,771.551.1%1,657.630.6%397.07.3%682.712.6%629
Chagrin River Main Branch27,935.716,834.960.3%6,706.424.0%1,785.16.4%2,919.510.5%230
Chagrin River Upper Main Branch / Beaver Creek1,477.4890.360.3%340.323.0%98.86.7%178.412.1%328
Chippewa Creek11,331.25,861.651.7%3,315.429.3%995.58.8%1,220.210.8%526
Cuyahoga Navigation Channel / Morganna / Burke Br3,047.7420.313.8%610.820.0%1,186.638.9%870.128.6%321
Cuyahoga River / Cuyahoga Valley National Park18,319.89,934.754.2%5,001.727.3%1,857.110.1%1,781.39.7%425
Cuyahoga River Navigation Channel5,266.8813.615.4%1,248.023.7%1,540.029.2%1,837.234.9%312
Cuyahoga River Navigation Channel / Kingsbury Run5,937.81,204.320.3%1,714.828.9%1,548.826.1%1,510.925.4%295
Doan Brook6,238.92,608.841.8%1,319.821.2%948.415.2%1,409.422.6%1213
Dugway / Nine Mile / Green Creeks15,017.54,808.032.0%3,693.924.6%3,013.220.1%3,526.523.5%218
Euclid Creek13,268.74,641.535.0%4,236.831.9%1,835.113.8%2,623.319.8%2014
French Creek3,923.41,886.048.1%1,203.830.7%288.17.3%576.914.7%1027
Furnace Run1,873.4756.740.4%574.830.7%205.110.9%366.319.6%1423
Lake Erie East Tributaries8,068.01,260.515.6%1,963.024.3%2,097.026.0%2,820.135.0%303
Lake Erie Tributaries East of Black River599.5294.749.2%173.328.9%44.27.4%91.015.2%821
Lake Erie Tributaries West of Chagrin River6,311.11,415.222.4%1,965.231.1%1,353.521.4%1,596.325.3%277
Lake Erie West Tribs (Cahoon, Sperry Creeks)12,826.05,082.539.6%3,865.630.1%1,641.512.8%2,267.717.7%1516
Lake Erie West Tributaries5,915.01,299.422.0%1,499.725.4%1,379.023.3%1,741.429.4%284
Mill Creek12,381.32,866.023.1%4,105.133.2%2,749.622.2%2,717.021.9%2510
Plum Creek1,142.0523.145.8%370.332.4%118.410.4%139.412.2%1122
Pond Brook1,115.5561.050.3%345.531.0%47.74.3%186.216.7%731
Porter Creek4,146.81,681.640.6%1,254.830.3%477.911.5%767.018.5%1318
Rocky River East Branch20,559.910,115.949.2%6,289.730.6%1,842.79.0%2,523.212.3%924
Rocky River Main Stem9,535.43,408.035.7%2,388.025.0%1,432.215.0%2,477.326.0%1812
Rocky River West Branch15,769.55,817.936.9%5,729.936.3%1,733.711.0%2,628.516.7%1719
Tinkers Creek24,631.88,677.535.2%8,388.534.1%3,804.315.4%3,960.616.1%1915
West Creek12,100.63,499.228.9%4,096.633.9%2,363.619.5%2,247.418.6%2211
Willow Creek263.8180.968.6%48.318.3%3.71.4%31.011.8%132
CUYAHOGA COUNTY TOTAL291,510.5109,688.337.6%86,032.229.5%44,560.215.3%53,912.318.5%

For downloadable spreadsheets and GIS data, see the Downloads page.

For an interactive version, explore the Land Cover/Tree Canopy layers in our Greenprint Viewer.

Greenprint GIS