That every day, because of what do, the Crooked River dies. The Cuyahoga River, as most think of it, the brown stream meets lake erie, an industrial waterway, its banks mills andby steel factories, its channel filled and barges. The Cuyahoga River, as it after alake erie, 100mile twisting and turning its headwaters, is an exhausted stream, abused and and his machines. Without the cuyahoga, the sprawling megalopolis of cleveland, akron, would not exist. The river was the reason for originally settling this portion of the western reserve in 1780s. The river called crooked by the delaware indians provided a waterway to the interior of ohio so man came and continued coming. Until today, nearly two Million People live and work in the river basin. In creating this urban complex, man has used the river as men have always used rivers. The flow has been put to work as a navigable stream, a water supply and as a sewer. Mans mark is everywhere. Is this mark an epitaph for the cuyahoga . Changesve been some since 1966, but if mans mark become an epitaph, knell. Till a death today, without question, the cuyahoga is dying. Possibility of resurrection. The Cuyahoga River begins above shardon in geaga county as two separate branches rising from and marshes. True to its name, it founds a akron, path south to then north to cleveland and lake waterway. Miles of this essay on the cuyahoga, begins a few miles from the rivers source, near burton, ohio, where conservationists gather each down ther a canoe trip river. It is as much an inspection trip as it is recreation. Some 450 people followed bill gressard on the trip. It was gressard, outdoor editor courier, who complaints about the polluted trip,ga, and his canoe helped draw attention to the problem. But the trip is fun, too. And families take to the water from miles around. Enthusiasts like 70yearold ms. Bessie simpson from lakewood alone. E the 25mile trip among the group is a district engineer, colonel ray hansen. This district is responsible for keeping screens open in this part of the country, and recently of trash on the open river. There are septic tanks that overflow. We have even seen oil. It is right below a tank farm. We have an under investigation already. Below the rapids, theres a retreat called camp hyde, stopped by a small waterfall. Rains one, that he could float his metal kayak over the falls. And two, that he could catch bass from the ones polluted waters. Trips hascess of past focused attention at the desperate situation. The mayor and the citizens have cleaned up their part of the away, evenwing trash cleaning the riverbed itself, and have transformed the field into a town park and picnic area. The general consensus was good. It is in better condition than it has been in years. The 25 mile trek ended. South, the second water reservoir. And when the weather is good, you can find fishermen on the roadside, where highway 15 crosses the lake. It is one of the few remaining spots where fish inhabit the lake. From this point on, the river begins to show the ravages of man, and will ultimately destroy it by the time it reaches lake erie. Destruction comes from place like this. The Wastewater Treatment plant, just southeast of lake rockwell. In short, the plant is simply not short enough to treat everything it gets, and the situation is so bad that the ohio state Water Pollution board has had a ban on new construction until a new plan can be built. Superintendent says simply that he doesnt have facilities to do what he is supposed to do. There are plans for a new plant, and the federal government may help, but it will cost some 2 million to build it. As a result, largely untreated sewage runs from the plant to a ditch nearby, and into a series of creaks which flow into the cuyahoga. For a time, the river becomes a sewer. A new Sewage Treatment plant is under construction. It is a tertiary treatment plant, meaning it releases highly treated water back into the environment. It is the best Sewage Treatment system, unlike many, and this will be adequate for future development. But as it flows silently by the historic river, the cuyahoga begins to smell, and the riverbed is covered with rich slime. The ancient tribal meeting grounds have succumbed to modern man. Spillway ofw the lake rockwell, the cuyahoga begins to show its age. The city of akron is expanding this main water intake to handle the millions of gallons of water required by akron. But the water is so impure, that one time, tons of sludge taken from it or dumped directly into the river, largely for the efforts of large settling ponds to hold the sludge, and now even they are almost full, and that part of the plan will most likely have to be expanded in the future. By legislative act, the city owns the right to the rivers water, and everything upstream must use municipal or private wells. But akron is now considering a fourth water reservoir, meeting a new dam across the cuyahoga. The citynew reservoir, can begin selling water to countless towns in the area. But even now the city of akron uses so much water from the river that in times of low flow, it almost stops running. Another band would kill the cuyahoga. The river runs somewhat clear, though not pure by any means. It is cleaning up to support fish, and several have been taken from this spot, right in the heart of town. Talk of makingn the river into a park, available to all. We are told the plan is simple. It was a different story five years ago. On the outskirts of kent, where the river heads for cuyahoga falls, is a new Wastewater Treatment plant, which was under construction five years ago. It can provide secondary treatment of some 4 million gallons of waste each day, and it is now meeting the state requirements. In 1960, kent faced the situation in which laveta finds itself today, but even they are finding it difficult to do their job properly because of the kinds of waste it must treat, everything from slaughterhouse remains to industrial sludge and oil are flushed into the sewers. As it is with innumerable other cities along the river. Of course, the influence from the Metal Industry linked into the cuyahoga, and the orange color dissolved iron and rust leaves an indelible mark on the river. The cuyahoga has its water problem like everywhere in the united states. Its from the upper end to this end, polluted sediment in the debris, itis full of has a heavy load of the industrial waste. Here as in countless other places, the dams provide water for specialized use. Here, they supply a paper manufacturing company. Much uses of river water can kill you. It slowly meandered through the city of cuyahoga falls, in some spots going at idyllic speeds. In others, and industrial sewer. Waste, mostly industrial, trickled into the river. But it appears to be in better condition than five years ago. Many polluters are still actively contributing to the depths of the cuyahoga. Falls, theahoga river wines through the city of akron. On the three dams upstream, the city gets some 70 million gallons of water per day, with a tiny stream at the boxing plant several miles below. Discharge flow, the could make up 85 of the rivers water. Under normal conditions, as much as half. From here, the cuyahoga attempts to act like a river, coursing down waterfalls several hundred feet for another mile and a half. By the time the Cuyahoga River reaches it, it is already dead. There is little life of any kind in this water. Least 284 signs and at million this waits into the river west of the lake. The treatment plan adds another 75 million gallons to the river alone. Now it is the river, known throughout the world as the only one. We talk about cleaning up lake erie, but it is not out in the lake, it is specific areas. Out specificlean areas. This uses river water and find they have to clean it first, then many dirty into more before dumping it back. There are proposals for cleaning up the river, and while it will never again be a trout stream, it can be made not to smell. The cleanup costs could be staggering. It boils down to two things. We have to toilet train ourselves for industrial waste. Wewe do get them cleaned up, have to clean up the mess that we have made. With the Cleanup Program like this, it could just about work anywhere. Enough that we can do a big job, and small enough that we can pack into few months. While we cant fix the Cuyahoga River, it has been reformed. Ends, it has been long dead. If there is an epilogue to the story of how the river dies, it is simply that men has multiplied too fast, and his slovenly habits have made it difficult to live. If he does not stop polluting, eventually, like the cuyahoga, he will find there is nothing clean left, and his fate may resemble that of the Crooked River. Announcer you can watch these films in their entirety on our weekly series reel america, tu