Integrative Review of Riparian Buffers Benefits in Urbanized Watersheds

Riparian buffers or riparian corridors are areas of vegetation in the floodplains and areas surrounding a stream. By the early 2000s, numerous national reports and studies of riparian buffer benefits established that vegetation near streams is helpful in protecting the stream from increasing urban runoff, minimizing bank erosion, reducing flooding, and improving overall water quality. However, influential studies concluded that buffer benefits dwindle as urbanization increases, eventually becoming ineffective. This study evaluates more recent research that suggests riparian buffers are more effective at countering urbanization impacts than previously understood, and considers the extent to which we can quantify these benefits and identify the factors that maximize their effectiveness (i.e. greater efficiency based on buffer distance from the stream, extent of stream setbacks, and percentage of impervious cover in the area). Much of the research has been conducted in the Kansas City area in the Blue River Watershed, which begins in Kansas and flows into Missouri River east of downtown Kansas City, Missouri. About 800,000 residents live in the watershed, which includes some of the region’s fastest growing areas. It is critical to protect this major resource, and other regional rivers and streams, for residents of the Kansas City Metropolitan area and the ecosystems that depend on them. It is also critical to provide the latest and best information to the community-of-practice currently updating regional stormwater management planning and design guidance.