The Ottawa River, also known as Ottawa Creek, is a short river, approximately longU.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
, accessed May 19, 2011 (or about if Tenmile Creek, the longest tributary, is included), in northwest

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

and southeast

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It drains an area on the Ohio-Michigan border along the eastern and northern fringes of the city of Toledo, goes through

Ottawa Hills Ottawa Hills is a village in Lucas County, Ohio, United States. The population was 4,517 at the 2010 census. The village was developed on both sides of the Ottawa River (Ohio) and serves as a bedroom community and suburb of Toledo. The Ottawa H ...

, and empties directly into

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has t ...

. It is one of two rivers in northwestern Ohio that share the same name, along with the

Ottawa River The Ottawa River (french: Rivière des Outaouais, Algonquin: ''Kichi-Sìbì/Kitchissippi'') is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It is named after the Algonquin word 'to trade', as it was the major trade route of Eastern ...

that is a tributary of the

Auglaize River The Auglaize River (Shawnee: ''Kathinakithiipi'') is a tributary of the Maumee River in northwestern Ohio in the United States. It drains a primarily rural farming area in the watershed of Lake Erie. The name of the river was derived from the ...

. The upper of the river in Michigan north of

Sylvania, Ohio Sylvania is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States. The population was 19,011 at the 2020 census. Sylvania is a suburb of Toledo, and encompassed by Sylvania Township. Its northern border is the southern border of the state of Michigan. T ...

is called North Tenmile Creek on federal maps, while another branch rising in

Fulton County, Ohio Fulton County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Ohio west of Toledo, Ohio, Toledo. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 42,713. Its county seat is Wauseon, Ohio, Wauseon. The count ...

, is called Tenmile Creek. North Tenmile Creek rises in extreme

southeastern Michigan Southeast Michigan, also called southeastern Michigan, is a region in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan that is home to a majority of the state's businesses and industries as well as slightly over half of the state's population, most of whom are c ...

, southwest of Ottawa Lake, approximately north of the Ohio-Michigan state line. The creek flows south across the state line to Sylvania, where it is joined by Tenmile Creek to form the Ottawa River, approximately northwest of Toledo. The river then flows southeast into western Toledo, where it turns northeast. For its lower it flows along the north side of Toledo roughly parallel to the

Maumee River The Maumee River (pronounced ) ( sjw, Hotaawathiipi; mia, Taawaawa siipiiwi) is a river running in the United States Midwest from northeastern Indiana into northwestern Ohio and Lake Erie. It is formed at the confluence of the St. Joseph and ...

, separated from it by approximately . It crosses the Michigan state line for its final , entering Little Maumee Bay on Lake Erie.

Pollutants

The water quality assessment of the lower section of the Ottawa River found many chemicals in the water with a hazard quotient greater than 1 (from highest to lowest concentration):

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It has ...

PCBs Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are highly carcinogenic chemical compounds, formerly used in industrial and consumer products, whose production was banned in the United States by the Toxic Substances Control Act in 1979 and internationally by t ...

manganese Manganese is a chemical element with the symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese is a transition metal with a multifaceted array of industrial alloy use ...

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...

DDT Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, commonly known as DDT, is a colorless, tasteless, and almost odorless crystalline chemical compound, an organochloride. Originally developed as an insecticide, it became infamous for its environmental impacts. ...

thallium Thallium is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Tl and atomic number 81. It is a gray post-transition metal that is not found free in nature. When isolated, thallium resembles tin, but discolors when exposed to air. Chemists W ...

selenium Selenium is a chemical element with the symbol Se and atomic number 34. It is a nonmetal (more rarely considered a metalloid) with properties that are intermediate between the elements above and below in the periodic table, sulfur and tellurium, ...

chromium Chromium is a chemical element with the symbol Cr and atomic number 24. It is the first element in group 6. It is a steely-grey, lustrous, hard, and brittle transition metal. Chromium metal is valued for its high corrosion resistance and hardne ...

nickel Nickel is a chemical element with symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal. Pure nickel is chemically reactive but large pieces are slow to ...

cadmium Cadmium is a chemical element with the symbol Cd and atomic number 48. This soft, silvery-white metal is chemically similar to the two other stable metals in group 12, zinc and mercury. Like zinc, it demonstrates oxidation state +2 in most of ...

cyanide Cyanide is a naturally occurring, rapidly acting, toxic chemical that can exist in many different forms. In chemistry, a cyanide () is a chemical compound that contains a functional group. This group, known as the cyano group, consists of ...

, and

zinc Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...

. The poor water quality results primarily from the river's form and structure, since it has a slow flow, and, secondly, from

urban runoff Urban runoff is surface runoff of rainwater, landscape irrigation, and car washing created by urbanization. Impervious surfaces (roads, parking lots and sidewalks) are constructed during land development. During rain , storms and other precipit ...

and discharge from

landfills A landfill site, also known as a tip, dump, rubbish dump, garbage dump, or dumping ground, is a site for the disposal of waste materials. Landfill is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of the waste ...

and sewers. The City of Toledo has made it a priority to clean up the river. It has taken action to clear landfills and tributaries.

Dam removal

In 2001, the

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats. The mission of the agency is "working with oth ...

proposed the removal of a long-standing dam in the

stretch of the river to return the waterway to its natural flow and promote fish migration. It was also mentioned that the dam was a liability for the village. One dam was removed in 2007 and another in 2020.

References

External links

University of Toledo Presidents Commission on the River
a commission of

University of Toledo The University of Toledo (UToledo or UT) is a public research university in Toledo, Ohio. It is the northernmost campus of the University System of Ohio. The university also operates a Health Science campus, which includes the University of T ...

faculty, staff, and students working to clean up the Ottawa River. {{authority control Rivers of Michigan Rivers of Ohio Tributaries of Lake Erie Rivers of Lucas County, Ohio Rivers of Monroe County, Michigan

Pollutants

Dam removal

See also

References

External links