CLEVELAND, Ohio - Cleveland Metroparks is not moving heaven, but it is shifting tons of earth to restore the former Acacia Country Club to its natural state.

The park system received the 155-acre plot in late 2012 after club shareholders sold it to the Conservation Fund. The anonymous donor who underwrote the $14.75-million transfer to the Metroparks stipulated it could no longer be used for golf and it had to be restored to its natural state.

The most visible effort at the moment is the restoration of Euclid Creek's main stem coursing through the Acacia Reservation in Lyndhurst.

That's good news for the Euclid Creek Watershed that drains 23 square miles through 12 communities, most of them in eastern Cuyahoga County.

The restoration will improve water quality and reduce storm-water runoff.

The current project, which began in October, reconnects the creek to its flood plain.

As a golf course, the goal was to evacuate water. As a park, the objective is to keep the water on the landscape, said Terry Robison, the Metroparks' director of natural resources.

That current phase should be done by year's end, he said. Next year will see new planting, the establishment of swales that help contain the water, and destruction of the drainage-tile network that had hastened runoff from the golf course. Culverts that forced portions of the creek system underground also will be removed.

The Euclid Creek Watershed, which drains 23 square miles in more than 10 Cuyahoga County communities. The Acacia Reservation, though not outlined, is toward the bottom of the map between the words "Lyndhurst" and "Beachwood." (Cuyahoga Soil and Water Conservation District)

Reforestation is another powerful component of the restoration because it reduces runoff. Most of that takes the form seedlings, saplings and smaller containerized trees.

"It will be 20 to 25 years before there's a full stand of timber," Robison said.

"But we've already seen a response to the work we have done," said Jennifer Grieser, the parks' senior natural resource manager.

That includes rebounding wildlife. Grieser cited the recent appearance of Merlins (Falco columbarius), a breed of falcon.

Acacia's ill effects on the watershed began to abate the moment it ceased to be a golf course because the Metroparks does not use the lawn-enhancing chemicals that golf courses favor.

"As conservation is a pillar of our mission, we are thrilled to feature it in action at Acacia Reservation," said Metroparks CEO Brian Zimmerman. "Restoration practices improve water quality, enhance wildlife habitat, and allow for more sustainable park management.

"This rare opportunity to return a property to its original state enhances the legacy of the Emerald Necklace and provides a resource that the community will enjoy for the next 100 years.''

The restoration is being underwritten by more than $2 million in grants, Grieser said. Most of that is from the Ohio EPA, with the rest coming the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Conservation Fund.

Improvements to Euclid Creek will also benefit the greater park system, because the Metroparks also hold the original Euclid Creek Reservation to the north, as well as the last leg of the creek as it empties into Lake Erie at the former Wildwood State Park.

Park planners began collecting data and put forth a master plan for the restoration in 2014.

Claire Posius, Euclid Creek Watershed coordinator for the Cuyahoga Soil and Water Conservation District, said the Metroparks' current undertaking at Acacia is the single largest restoration effort in the history of the watershed.

She said the mouth of Euclid Creek was restored just before the Metroparks took control of Wildwood, Euclid Beach and Villa Angela in 2013.

Posius was not optimistic about the likelihood that Acacia and the segment of Euclid Creek would be protected until the Metroparks stepped in.

Before that, there were nine public parks in Euclid Creek Watershed communities totaling 141 acres.

She said acquisition of Acacia's 155 acres more than doubled the amount of public park land in the watershed.