Dive into the lakes.
Learn More About the Issues.
Featured Articles & Commentary
Documentation
SLP Fact Sheet 1
A concise, at-a-glance summary of the NEORSD’s statements vs. actual facts.
Download the SLP Fact Sheet and share it with your neighbors
UPDATE – National Preservation Spotlight
Shaker Lakes Parklands Elevated to National Preservation Spotlight as Federal Court Ruling Leaves Project Unresolved
By Erin Flanagan – October 16, 2026
A national preservation nomination brings renewed attention to the Shaker Lakes Parklands while a federal court ruling leaves the project unresolved, but does describe the Shaker Lakes as a continuous historic landscape — a critical distinction..
Read about the latest developments here
Analysis
NEORSD vs. Experts on Dam Classification
Jeff McManus takes closer look at the debate between NEORSD and independent experts over the classification of the dams.
EXCERPT: This whole situation is so sad. The cities should have started from a place of figuring out what the community wanted and then working with community members and experts in various relevant fields to figure out how to make it happen, or the best approximation. Who knows, if they’d done that, we might already be at work on preserving our parks with perhaps modestly smaller lakes that would still keep the feel of the historic landscapes intact. Instead, the cities got bad advice from the Sewer District and dragged us into a mess that continues to get uglier, and thanks to rampant inflation, whatever happens will just end up costing more and more.
I implore someone, anyone, in a position of authority – with the cities, with NEORSD, with both – to stand up and say we screwed up, we accept responsibility, and we’re going to start the hard work of making things right. The longer it takes for that to happen, the more damage to our community will be done.
October 16, 2026
SHAKER LAKES BLOG
Documentation
Ohio EPA Hearing Transcript: Horseshoe Lake Water Quality Permit
Ohio EPA Public Hearing · Horseshoe Lake Water Quality Permit · September 22, 2026
Documented here is the official transcript from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency public hearing on the Horseshoe Lake project’s water quality permit, held September 22, 2026 at Shaker Heights Middle School. This record documents the testimony, both for and against the project permitting, by residents, experts, and officials.
The EPA hearing gave community members their most direct opportunity yet to put their voices on the official record — every word of testimony is documented here.
OHIO EPA Hearing transcript
News
Horseshoe Lake’s Fate Is Nearly Sealed While Lower Lake Remains on the Table — The Fight Now Heads to the EPA
Cleveland.com · Karan Singh – September 2026
The Cleveland Plain Dealer’s Karan Singh reports on the some of the history as well as the latest news regarding the fight to save the lakes, including the September 22 EPA Hearing at Shaker Heights Middle School. “Residents have since packed council meetings, demanding evidence supporting the engineering and cost estimates while calling for an independent second opinion.”
The Ohio EPA permitting process is the community’s next critical opportunity to be heard — Lower Lake’s fate is still in the balance, and every voice matters.
CLEVELAND.COM
Commentary
Horseshoe Lake Removal Project: PR vs. Reality
By Jeff McManus · Save the Shaker Lakes (Facebook) · September 15, 2026
Jeff McManus posted a detailed fact-check table on the Save the Shaker Lakes Facebook page, contrasting what NEORSD has said about the Horseshoe Lake removal project with verifiable reality — covering tree removal, restoration claims, park size, taxpayer funding, flood risk, and more.
NEORSD is using money that we all paid them in stormwater fees to run a misleading PR campaign.
— Jeff McManus · Save the Shaker Lakes · September 15, 2026
From SAVE THE SHAKER LAKES facebook page
Opinion
August opinion casts shadows on legitimate arguments
By Christine Heggie · Heights Observer · August 27, 2026
Deborah Van Kleef’s opinion in the August Heights Observer, “Horseshoe transformation opponents spread false narratives,” casts shadows on residents arguing in good faith, with legitimate perspectives.
It is an unfair process for citizens when a powerful utility has resources that enable it to disproportionately influence public opinion. This significant disparity has largely been ignored, and is worthy of discussion.
— Christine Heggie · Heights Observer · August 27, 2026
HEIGHTS OBSERVER
Commentary
NEORSD Has Failed the Community – Miserably!
By The Cleveland Architecture Foundation – Spring 2026
In a roundup of Cleveland’s failed institutions, the Cleveland Architecture Foundation calls out the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD), saying it “royally botched the Shaker Lakes Initiative.” The NEORSD section is excerpted here.
NEORSD royally botched the Shaker Lakes Initiative.
— Cleveland Architecture Foundation · Vol. 5 No. 11 · Spring 2026
CLEVELAND ARCHITECTURE FOUNDATION
Analysis
What the New Park Would Actually Be Like
By Jeff McManus · Shaker Lakes Blog · July 2026
If NEORSD brings back Horseshoe Lake as planned — weird but true — here’s what you’d actually get. The character of the parklands, and the ecosystems that depend on them, would be transformed in ways most visitors have never been told.
Weird but true: the new park would be a very different kind of place than what most people who love the current park are imagining.
— Jeff McManus · Shaker Lakes Blog · July 2026
SHAKER LAKES BLOG
Read more from Jeff McManus
Jeff McManus examines proposals affecting the historic Shaker Lakes and Doan Brook, offering research, commentary, and environmental analysis in support of preserving the lakes, mature trees, parklands, and public access.
Independent Reporting
An Independent Look at the Controversy
By Peter Gelderloos · The Land · July 10, 2026
Residents lose trust in local government over the plan to drain Lower Shaker Lake. Over 4,000 have signed a petition to save the lakes — a powerful signal that the community is watching and will not stay silent.
It would permanently alter the historic landscape of the parkland. It would destroy the area as we see it today.
— Peter Gelderloos · The Land · July 10, 2026
Documentation
1,000+ Trees: What the Plans Actually Say
By Jeff McManus · Shaker Lakes Blog · March 2026
So about those thousand mostly native and healthy trees — what do the actual NEORSD plans say about what would be removed? The details, buried in documents most residents never saw, are alarming.
The plan only became public thanks to a public records request. If not for that, the removal of a thousand trees could have begun before any members of the public even knew it was going to happen.
— Jeff McManus · Shaker Lakes Blog · March 2026
SHAKER LAKES BLOG
Editorial policy: The Shaker Lakes Parklands is an advocacy and informational website dedicated to preserving the Shaker Lakes, their surrounding tree canopy, and the historic parklands. We may link to reporting, official documents, and resources relevant to that mission, but we do not publish or promote material advocating their removal or destruction.
