06-04-2025
Willoughby Hills residents can soon access river level sensors
WILLOUGHBY HILLS, Ohio (WJW) – With plenty of rain the past week and more precipitation on the way, officials are monitoring the water levels of the Chagrin River in Willoughby Hills.
They do so now through high-tech sensors that feed them data such as depth, elevation, and rain measurements.
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The web page where all the data is sent will soon be available to residents through the city's website.
'It's data we use. It's another tool, and if we have the ability to provide that to the public, there's no reason that the public can't see it. People who live around here are interested in watching it, so why not?' Willoughby Hills Fire Lieutenant Lou Dimattia said.
There's a sensor over the river on Eagle Road, and another on the Pleasant Valley Bridge.
The technology plays a huge role in helping the Willoughby Hills Fire Department monitor the Chagrin River.
In previous years, they'd have to send someone down to the river to check how high the water is on a physical marker.
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'When you're dealing with the river and flooding, it's hard to predict when things are going to happen and when they happen, they happen now and every second counts in terms of notifying people and giving them a chance to get out,' he said.
Dimattia said raising the funds and then learning the technology was a slow process, but they're hoping to expand it even further.
They'd like to raise the money to get more sensors, and they're working on ways to utilize the sensors' ability to send alerts out when certain water levels are reached.
Dimattia said they're working through which heights should call for alerts, and where they should be sent.
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They'd like to, perhaps, make the alerts available to be sent directly to residents, but they don't want to take that measure without serious testing to avoid false alarms.
The sensors were obtained through a partnership between the Willoughby Hills Fire Department, the Chagrin River Watershed partners, and other parties.
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