Send us Fan Mail We talk with Mark Christie, Director of Cuyahoga County's Office of Emergency Management, about severe weather in Northeast Ohio, damage assessments, and how recovery decisions get made fast. Mark gives some tips on preparing for hazards during thunderstorms, tornadoes, winter storms, and flooding that hits both rivers and basements, with info on ReadyNotify and the federal IPAWS system and a simple preparedness plan you can follow before the next storm hits.

Send us Fan Mail Mike and Donna report from the 19th annual Ohio Stormwater Conference in Sandusky, OH. The day's presentations touch on education, stormwater modeling and maintenance, and funding, and demonstrate how design choices and policy decisions can ripple across entire communities. Our guests include: Erica Matheny, Tinker's Creek Watershed Partners Refka Abroug, Tinker's Creek Watershed Partners Jesse Rufner, GPD Group Jack Caruso, Cleveland Metroparks Joey Smith, Ohio S...

Send us Fan Mail April is National Native Plant Month, and in this episode we talk with Sustainability Specialist Kevin Harrison and Paul Kovalcik of our Stormwater Inspection & Maintenance (SWIM) department, unpacking what defines a "native plant" and why they matter for water quality and habitat. We talk about how native species support pollinators, and why losing host plants can impact the entire food web. We connect native landscaping to the Sewer District's stormwater management and...

Send us Fan Mail A fallen log in a stream can serve as beneficial fish habitat or pose a flood hazard. Stormwater inspectors Kelsey Hickox and Andriana Hayes explain what Stormwater Inspection and Maintenance (SWIM) looks like and why the Sewer District pays so much attention to creeks, culverts, and stormwater basins. We also discuss urgent storm response and why field verification matters for our stormwater modeling. Plus, practical tips for homeowners to help with their community's stormwa...

Send us Fan Mail Rainfall can turn some roads into rivers. Construction Supervisor Joel Hill explains how his team keeps neighborhoods dry using basins, culverts, and stream restoration projects to manage downpours. Joel brings a rare perspective with his decade-plus working on massive tunnel projects and his pivot to the stormwater side of the Sewer District's work. We discuss hydrologic forecasts that shape project designs and stream morphology, and spotlight some local projects in Maple H...

Send us Fan Mail What actually leads a policy idea into becoming a clean-water milestone? We take you behind the scenes with Danielle Giannantonio, Senior Manager of State and Federal Legislative Affairs & Grants at the NEORSD, to map the practical path from bills to budgets to better infrastructure. Danielle shares how a Statehouse page job led to legislative aide work, a crash course in clean-water issues at Ohio EPA, and ultimately a role where relationships, timing, and clarity determ...

Send us Fan Mail Hey, it's hard to pass up a good pun. Even if we didn't talk much about sewer smells in this episode, we were excited to learn how our legal team moves billion‑dollar water projects forward with strategy, ethics, and empathy. Chief Legal Officer Eric Luckage explains how well‑designed contracts, early risk spotting, and clear and honest conversations with residents help the Sewer District deliver clean water and protect our ratepayers.

Send us Fan Mail Freezing temperatures can test our municipal water systems as well as the pipes inside our homes. Water Commissioner Alex Margevicius explains how the Cleveland Division of Water keeps 1.4 million people supplied with safe drinking water when temperatures plunge and aging water mains face their toughest days of the year. From Cleveland's offshore water intakes to your homes and businesses, we trace the journey clean water makes and share some simple measures you can tak...

Send us Fan Mail A lake that learns can change a region. Sam Martin, Director of Communications and Engagement at Cleveland Water Alliance (CWA), shares how Lake Erie has become the world’s largest digitally-connected freshwater test bed—and why that matters for public health, utility costs, and the next wave of water-tech jobs. Sam walks us through the water economy—everything from maritime logistics and treatment plants to sensing, analytics, and policy—and explains why real-world tes...

Send us Fan Mail A new crew of superheroes, the Lake Erie League, is turning everyday systems into comic-book stories for kids and teachers to use in the classroom. Across eight origin tales, these northeast Ohio-inspired characters mirror very real aspects of the Sewer District's work, from massive tunneling machines whose creations tame storm overflows, to a miniaturized lab technician who can detect toxins no human eye could witness. We start with Mackenzie, inspired by the tunnel boring ...