Managing riparian ecosystems to control nonpoint pollution

RIPARIAN ecosystem—big words and scientific jargon for the land farmers usually call bottomland or “that wet area down by the creek.” In the past decade or two, scientists have become interested in these wet areas. There have been many studies to see how streamside areas work—what animals and plants live there, how the areas affect streamflow, how they capture and retain nutrients and agricultural chemicals, and how they fit into a well-managed agricultural land-scape. Some definitions “Riparian” comes from the Latin rip meaning bank (of a stream). The first scientific use of the word may have been in 1758 when Linnaeus named the bank swallow Riparia riparia because it nests in stream banks ( 11 ). In the eastern United States (east of the 100th meridian) state surface water law generally is based on riparian rights. Under this legal system owners of land adjacent to water courses have the right to reasonable use of the flow of water, undiminished in quantity or quality. “Ecology” is the study of interactions among organisms and their environment. The “ecosystem” is the basic functional unit in the science of ecology; it includes both the …