Riparian buffers: An irrefutable case

We’ve talked before about the importance of properly managing the polluted runoff that results from stormwater. One important mechanism for controlling polluted runoff is the use of riparian buffers. These undeveloped areas adjacent to the water’s edge have wide-ranging benefits. Buffers can help reduce the amount of runoff that enters our streams and rivers, and they filter pollutants out of the runoff that does reach our waterways. Buffers also improve the quality of habitat for aquatic life and even help to increase the values of nearby properties.

On January 27, several organizations sponsored a presentation to Pennsylvania state legislators to educate them about the important role that buffers play in protecting us from the harms that polluted runoff can cause. Representative Greg Vitali, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, Clean Water Action, American Rivers, PennFuture, and the Pennsylvania Campaign for Clean Water invited three speakers to the State Capitol to talk to a group of more than two dozen people comprised of state legislators and their staff. 

Dr. Bern Sweeney, Director of the Stroud Water Research Center, gave an entertaining and informative presentation about the scientific merits of buffers. He was followed by Mayor J. Richard Gray from the City of Lancaster, who spoke about his city’s experiences implementing green methods of managing polluted runoff. Finally, Patti Elkis from the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission summarized buffers’ economic benefits.  

Overall, the information presented during the session made an irrefutable case for the importance of creating and maintaining riparian buffers along Pennsylvania’s waterways. We are grateful to Dr. Sweeney, Mayor Gray, and Ms. Elkins for taking time out of their busy schedules to give the presentations, and we trust that the legislators and legislative staff in attendance found the information valuable.

Mike Helbing is a staff attorney for PennFuture, based in Philadelphia.