Urban River Riparian Buffers Video
Transcript
Naturally, riverine riparian areas would occur along the edges of most rivers, providing ecological benefits and biogeochemical cycling. Here is what the South Platte River looks like, with a natural course and a riparian buffer. Riparian buffers can help filter sediment nutrients and provide carbon and nutrients for net primary productivity within the river.
With urbanization, these areas have mostly disappeared in cities, which removes much of the ecological and biogeochemical function of the water cycle of rivers through cities. More and more people are moving to urban areas, and urban areas are growing. Climate change is affecting these areas through drought and # ooding as well. Cities throughout history have been designed to move water away from buildings and roads as quickly as possible.
Over time, we have lost the natural riparian buffers that keep our watersheds healthy and support wildlife. These buffers can help to cool cities, reduce flooding and clean sediment and pollutants from our water through natural biogeochemical cycles. The biogeochemical cycles that are interacting in a riverine riparian area are the water cycle, the carbon cycle, and the cycle of nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus, as well as sediments. The pool of water in this cycle is dependent on the amount of flow from upstream sources, from direct precipitation and runoff from nearby surfaces, but we are also making progress towards restoring riparian areas along rivers in urban environments, creating more areas for vegetation to capture carbon dioxide, increase net primary productivity, capture sediment, and process excess nutrients, making our rivers healthier.
The importance of the ecosystem services and biogeochemical function that riparian buffers provide is becoming increasingly recognized. Projects like the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Urban Waterways Program on the South Platte River in Denver will help to restore riparian buffers along this channelized urban waterway and create valuable habitat for wildlife and recreation for people along the way.
Gretchen Wilson is a Master of Science student in Environmental Science.