AKRON, Ohio — The Gorge Dam, located on the border of Akron and Cuyahoga Falls, was built more than 100 years ago. 

What You Need To Know

  • The Gorge Dam, no longer functioning, is one of the last unresolved water quality issues on the Cuyahoga River 

  • Work has officially begun to remove the dam 

  • The project is expected to cost around $130 million and will be completed in around five years

The dam is no longer in use, but Mike Johnson, the chief of conservation at the Summit Metro Parks, said that it is still causing environmental issues for the Cuyahoga River. 

“Most of the Cuyahoga River now is cleaned up," he said. "Most of the Cuyahoga River is now fishable, swimmable and with some treatment it is drinkable water. There are a few sore spots, but the dam pool is one of the biggest.”

The dam pool is about a mile and a half long. 

It creates stagnant water conditions, changing the habitat and nature of the stream and exacerbating pollutants. 

“Because this dam has been here so long, it has impounded the water, it has allowed sediment to build up,” Johnson said. “So, it is another thing dams do when you stop the free-flow of water, you stop the conveyance of sediment down stream and it builds up at the bottom of the pool. Over the last century we have built up about a million cubic yards of sediment. That sediment is contaminated. It is contaminated with basically all of the things from our industrial past.” 

The removal process has officially started. 

Before the dam can come down, the sediment has to be dredged. 

“We have to dredge the sediment, where is it gonna go?" he said. "We have found a place it is going to go, it is about a mile or so down-stream at Cascade Valley Metro Park, there is a thirty acre footprint there. There is an old dump in that park that has revegetated over the years. We are clearing it for the sediment to be transported there.” 

The entire project is expected to cost around $130 million. 

Through the Great Lakes Legacy Act, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will fund the majority of the sediment removal and the dredging. 

The state of Ohio is also contributing $25 million.

Summit Metro Parks is also working with several local stakeholders on this project, including the cities of Cuyahoga Falls and Akron, First Energy Corporation, Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, The Ohio Lake Erie Commission, the Ohio EPA, the office of Ilene Shapiro, The University of Akron and Summit County Council. 

“This is the last significant, unresolved water quality problem on the Cuyahoga River,” Johnson said. “It is the last and it is the biggest. I'm so excited to be a part of restoring this incredible river.” 

Johnson said this project could be complete in around five years.​