Riparian: Forward
The goal of the Clean Water Act in 1972 was to restore the physical and biological integrity of our nations streams. With that as guidance, the past 30 years have focused upon how to reduce pollutants in our running waters. Most regulatory rules are based upon water quality parameters that address chemical pollutants and the concentration or levels of those pollutants at which fish begin to die off. This is essentially point source or end of pipe regulation. Non point source concerns are characterized by those stream impacts from various land uses such as urbanization, forestry and agriculture. Still, the non-point discussion centers around what and how much of a specific pollutant enters the stream such as silt from construction sites or herbicides from agriculture.

In recent years, there has been new interest in applying a more holistic approach consideration of our stream resources as ecosystems. This approach considers much more than just how much water move through the channel (conveyance) or how much pollutant can be put into the water column (dilution) and begins to understand what other important functions our rivers and stream ecosystems provide.

There is much confusion as to the importance of protecting these other attributes of our river resources. While the water itself is considered to be a public resource, it almost always flows through private lands. If the floodplain provides something important to river ecosystems, is it important to the person who owns the floodplain? Outside of the water column, floodplains are considered important and are regulated in terms of how actions such as filling in the floodplain may affect upstream or downstream flooding.

Most actions and discussion have been very single in purpose and narrowly focused, such as damming streams for water supply, or channelizing streams for drainage, or filling the floodplains for development. For example, the Farm Bureau states that removal of trees on stream banks reduces bank erosion and allows water to move through the channel more quickly and therefore they consider channelization an improvement. This is a very narrow focus based upon drainage interests. Another example is the conflicting messages and narrow focus from within the Department of Natural Resources. Years ago in the 1970's, the Scenic Rivers Program recognized that riparian areas adjacent to streams provided important wildlife and water quality benefits. They decided a minimum forested buffer of 120 feet on each side of a stream is necessary to provide adequate habitat for wildlife migration and movement, the filtration of pollutants from adjacent fields or development, and to keep the banks from eroding thereby providing stability to the stream corridor. By contrast another Division within the same agency, the Division of Soil and Water Conservation (DSWC) has conflicting guidelines both within the division and with other sister Divisions. The DSWC has stated that no water quality benefits are realized from stream buffers beyond 30 feet in width, based upon reports provided to them from the Ohio Farm Bureau. The Division has also stated that planting forested buffers or trees along streams lock those streams "into a state of permanent impairment". This is based upon the theory that stream must be allowed to meander across the valley floor freely to achieve a maximum state of stability and that trees or buffers slow down that process, therefore they are seen as negative.

But science and the literature completely disagree with that flawed position and recognize that vegetation may be the single most important component to stream channel stability and biological function (Rosgen 1997). Is it any wonder the public is confused as to the roles and importance of the vegetated riparian areas?
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© 2008 Oxbow River & Stream Restoration, Inc. Last updated July-2008.