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Essential Question

What is the value of water?

Today we will:

discover that, in addition to gravity and topography, soil geology, vegetation, weather, and human development are factors in how the natural water cycle interacts with the watershed.

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What is a Riparian Buffer?

A riparian buffer is a zone of vegetation located along the bank of a waterway that serves to protect the water from harmful runoff. The roots of plants and trees in the riparian buffer stabilize the soil and control erosion. Without these plants, the soil will wash away leaving a less pervious surface! The plants slow water flow, reducing the threat of downstream flooding after heavy precipitation. By slowing water flow, riparian buffers allow more water to infiltrate the soil. As a result, more water enters the groundwater system where it is filtered as it slowly passes through the soil.

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Infiltration, Absorption, and Runoff

As you can see from this poster, there is a relationship between soil composition and certain combinations of soils relate to on filtration, absorption and runoff.

Notice there are natural variables that contribute to the benefits of buffers as natural stormwater management

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About Riparian Buffers

View this video: Riparian video (20 minute video but the first 7 minutes are recommended)

Or a shorter Riparian Buffer video (a 3-minute video based on the Lower Chippewa River) .

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Let’s turn our classroom into a streambank to show the benefits of a riparian buffer in our classroom

Step 1: Make a stream

Arrange the classroom so that there is a cleared center aisle down the middle. This represents your waterway. Make sure there is enough room on either side of the aisle (now your flowing waterway) for two groups of students to become the streambank on either side of the aisle.

Step 2: Make a riverbank

Some of you will line up facing each other on either side of the aisle (now your flowing waterway) . Stand close together or link arms.

Step 3: Land

The rest of you should on either side of the classroom will now gather up some crumpled paper clean recyclables and something that might even simulate oil or pesticides.

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Step 4: Let’s activate our model

Those of you holding objects should now try to get them through to the stream, past the line of students who represent the riverbank.

The riverbank students should try to keep the objects from getting through to the stream.

We have now created a simulation of how the riverbank acts as a buffer, capturing objects before they get into the stream, or at least slowing them down.

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Riparian Buffers - Show what you know

Draw and label a model explaining how riparian buffers and wetlands benefit the health of a watershed.