I remember a PD Sunday Magazine when I was a kid that featured the Baldwin plant and it is amazing - I agree this is worth seeing, and how our water works will be a big issue of the future here, and it is not in good hands now

I just got a flier for the Water Works tours and it says "No Camera or Video" - Homeland Security I suppose...

http://www.gcbl.org/blog/david-beach/sewer-district-moves-on-stormwater
Well, the good news is that movement on this issue begins -- read the article above.

       

I have just finished reading "The Swamp" by Michael Grunwald. It is about the history of the movement of water in the Everglades, the way it moved before man started his campaign to control it, and how it doesn't now after centuries of manipulation. Yes, yes, the Army Corps of Engineers are a dastardly crew; they have rearranged not only the rivers and coastlines of America, but wet areas throughout the world. But our desire for money and our "dominion over" nature to provide us with that cash goes back further still. It was that early desire to drain the “swamp” (it’s really a marsh) for it’s potential agricultural profit that began the whole debacle that is now South Florida.

    Clearly, for South Florida, sprawl is the biggest enemy of the Everglades. As they say down south, "When Naples reaches Palm Beach it will be called Napalm." South Florida provides a clear example of what damage can be done by trying to cantilever the infrastructure of an urban core so far out into the suburbs -- of how damaging sprawl can be to the green spaces that we must maintain to balance densely populated high energy consumptive urban areas.

In the Sunbelt, politicians have to deal with the shifting demographic which sends aging sun seeking boomers to their burgeoning cities. In Cleveland, we do not have that problem. We are a shrinking city. It seems it’s time to take that fact into account and take the time we are being afforded to clean up the mistakes of the past. Let us toast to a revival of the rust belt, gloom belt, regions. Let us learn from each other how to best restore and protect our water, soil and air; they are our capital. We have had a long history of unbridled spending of our natural resources. We have not been threatened by floods and fires like our neighbors on the coasts. It is time now for careful consideration of our new spending policy; it may well be time to draw some regional lines for containing sprawl. Preserving is far less expensive than restoring, and we still have a long list of restoration projects to finish. This time, it might be best to let things like water, soil, air and infrastructure already in place dictate where our path should lead next.

I am not a native to Northeast Ohio. I moved here from the panhandle of Florida. I grew up in paradise and watched as it was paved to put up a parking lot, a pink hotel (literally) and many a swinging hot spot. I crave the history and I love the density of Cleveland. It is almost Goldilocks perfect. Not too urban, not too rural – almost just right! We do not struggle with traffic congestion, we have accessibility to an affordable array of arts and culture and green space, and the housing stock in the city and the inner ring suburbs is magnificent.

But my first trip to the “beach” here was dismal -- even to someone who had lived through oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico. Never mind that I am a white-sand beach snob; the red tide at Mentor Headlands had me in tears. The beach was littered with trash of every description. I retreated to Florida for a few weeks and returned. But I stayed far away from any shore in Northeast Ohio for 20 years. A couple of summers ago, I decided to get to know the Cuyahoga. The best way to know water is to get in it, so I joined a summer rowing league. I am still appalled, but this time I am determined to do something about it. I have much more study to do before I can begin to act, but it is a start; just as the NEORSD’s planning to charge for runoff is a first step toward smart thinking about the future of our region and our world.

Gotta dash… I’m off to tour the Baldwin Water Treatment Plant… I hear they have updated it since it was originally built in 1924 -- a $10 million historical restoration and technology update. Cool!

  From Councilman Cummins--I don't get it, but I called for my application anyways--the completed application (call to get one mailed out) must be postmarked by April 30:

The District will provide a reduction in your NEORSD sewer bill if your water usage increases over the summer months due to the watering of lawns and gardens. Your home must be owner occupied and there is no income requirement. The deadline is April 30th and to sign up, call customer service at 881-8247. 




Addendum: my neighbor tells me that this whole program is a joke to offset the cost of watering large private properties in the suburbs. When I get the application, I will write more. I am not a big estate holder or a big sprinkler of grass or flowers.