The Riparian Ribbon

Connecting the Watershed

"Debt Repayment"

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Introduction

"Debt Repayment"

Every river, stream, creek, crick, pond and lake is incomplete without a healthy green lining of sedges, willows, cottonwoods and birch. Well connected riparian systems act as ecological highways for all manners of native flora and fauna. Pollinators and the general public can use these shady corridors to move throughout the community in comfort and style.

The Riparian Ribbon offers the chance to make debt repayments on the withdrawals we make from the watershed. By retaining and redirecting stormwater responsibly into ample riparian corridors communities can improve watershed health and increase community resilience to natural hazards such as flooding, debris flow, and erosion. Healthy riparian and wetland systems work in tandem to scrub surface water of the containment collected during use. Think of the riparian ribbon as a chance to make payments directly to the principle of your community’s mortgage and loan.

Form

A Healthy Riparian Ribbon Contains;

  • Should be INTACT! This means riparian and wetland habitat are continues. Beginning in source water ecosystems in our Mountain Zones, continued through the Bench Zones, until they reach their destination collator in our valleys.
  • High levels of ecological diversity
  • Visual and auditory presence of avian and insect life

Function

The Riparian Ribbon provides;

  • The Riparian Ribbon offers the chance to make debt repayments throughout the hydrological cycle. Think of a healthy riparian and wetland system as a chance to make payments directly to the principle of your mortgage or loan.
  • Collectors, such as lakes, ponds and wetlands can act as ecological barometer for overall health of the watershed. I problems are visual in collectors, they likely have their genesis elsewhere within your shed. Your collector health might be compared to your community water quality credit rating.

A Community acting Cooperatively with their watershed will…

  • Prioritize multifunctional green infrastructure solutions during the planning process
  • Really on the natural functionality of river and streambed ecology to mitigate for hazards such as flood risk and debris flow.
  • Establish riparian corridors in urban and suburban settings that provide educational, recreational and multimodal transportation in a naturalistic setting. Improving ecological connectivity and community identify and culture.
  • Make plans to daylight piped waterways and open channelized streams and canals.
  • Protect all open waterbodies by adopting policies restricting development and commercial and industrial activity within the riparian zone

A Community acting Competitively with their watershed will… 

  • Allow for development, graving and agricultural use in riparian areas, wetlands, and marshes
  • Return untreated or undertreated stormwater and discharge to the watershed
  • Allow agricultural which disturb waterways
  • Develop land without planning for onsite water detention and retention

Resources:

Riparian Ribbon and Aquifer Zones

Riparian zones occur across every geography and ecosystem in our state. If water is the lifeblood of the landscape, the riparian ribbon that escorts it are that lifeblood's arteries and vessels. Riparian zones also can occur in areas where no open water is present when shallow groundwater and aquifer return saturate soils.

Riparian areas cover only about 0.5% of the land area of the state. but play a vital roll in the functionality of our watersheds. Our collective understanding of the role these habitats and their ecological functionality within our water cycle are relatively recent discoveries. What we do know is that properly functioning Riparian Zones:

  • Dissipate stream energy
  • Stabilize banks
  • reduce erosion
  • Trap sediment
  • Enlarge and maintain the floodplain
  • Storm water
  • Retain floodwater
  • Recharge groundwater
  • Sustain the baseflows of rivers and streams

Much of the conventional thinking surrounding the management of rivers, streams and waterbodies as proven to be quite counterproductive. Streams and rivers that are channelized or piped, a common response to flood events, are unable to dissipate flood water energy, increasing potential damage downstream and increasing the likelihood of catastrophic damage when floodwaters eventually exceed capacity and leave the bounds of there designated channels.

The video below is the first in a educational series produced by the  Nueces River Authority ; created by the state of Texas in 1935 to preserve, protect and develop water resources. This series address many of the practical aspects of riparian management, and connects riparian health with water quality and overall ecological performances of the landscape. The first video in the series address some of the conventional land management practices concerning rivers and streams that have with time proven counterproductive to the goals of improving water quality and reducing risk. Some of the management issues addressed are:

  • Does the removal of Riparian Vegetation increase streams flow?
  • Do rivers flow more effectively once they have been straitened?
  • All flooding is bad right?
  • Should I remove the brush and trees from my riverbank to clear space for more desirable vegetation?
  • Should i remove fallen trees and logs from my creek or stream to improve the flow?
  • All droughts are bed right?
  • Do we have to restore every river and stream in the state?

Your Remarkable Riparian:  Digital Riparian Lessons  - Lesson 1: Debunking Myths

Resources:

Ecological Relationship

At this point in the hydrologic cycle water resources have traveled

Resources:

Ecological Diversity

The

Listen to Jack Green discuss the condition of the riparian zones in the Norther Wasatch Range:  Riparian Zones on Wild About Utah 

Ecological Restoration and Management

Management issues and current conditions of Utah's Riparian ecosystems

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Invasive Species in Riparian Areas

YouTube

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Restoration Examples

Areas key to functionality 

Powell Slough Habitat Restoration

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Lesson 6: The Importance of Riparian Vegetation

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Topics

  • Stimulating forest production through thinning, planting, harvest and regeneration
  • Fertilizing with limiting nutrients other than nitrogen
  • Removing nitrogen through prescribed burning and whole-tree harvesting
  • Discouraging transport by maintaining effective vegetation buffer strips in the riparian zone.

Wet Meadows

Riparian and Wet Meadow Degradation

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Beaver Mediated Areas

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Resources:

Bird and Mammal Habitat Area

YouTube

Welcome to the Riparian Zone

Consolidate 

Growth, Industrial and Extractive Activity and Recreational Use to areas with reduced impact to watershed health.

Conservation

The oldest task in human history: to live on a piece of land without spoiling it.

Aldo Leopold

Utah Division of Wildlife Resources:

 The Cooperative Wildlife Management Unit (CWMU)  program has opened more than two million acres of private land to the public. The program provides an abundance of benefits to the state's economy and its wildlife.

Utah Conservation Corps.:

 The Conservation Corps Partnership Options  provide with communities to provide labor and training on conservation related issue.

Land Trusts and Conservation Groups

  • Landscope.org - Looking for additional resources or capacity?  Look here  to find potential collaborators whose reach extends beyond state and even international borders.
  • Land Trust Alliance -  Land Trusts Operating in Utah 
  •  Utah Open Lands  - Open Lands protects the heritage and experience of the land, both for today’s communities and tomorrow’s generatio

Utah Aquatics Biologists

Resources:

Utah's Watershed Restoration Initiative:  Restoring Watersheds Through Partnerships 

Cultural Relationship

Land Ownership

Federal

  • BLM (US Bureau of Land Management)
  • BR (US Bureau of Reclamation)
  • DNR (State of Utah Department of Natural Resources)
  • DOD (US Department of Defense)
  • DOE (US Department of Energy)
  • NPS (US National Park Service)
  • USFS (US Forest Service)
  • USFWS (US Fish and Wildlife Service)

State

Private

Culinary Users

Relationship to Growth and Development

Growth and Development Resources:

Riparian Recovery Animation

Utah Division of Water Rights:  Well Information 

Culinary water treatment and delivery of water resources is typically administered by Water Conservancy Districts. Utah Association of Special Districts:  Directory of Utah Water Conservancy Districts 

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Relationship to Community Access and Recreation

Minimize erosion through responsible trail use and development

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Hunting and Fishing

YouTube

Economic Relationship

Plan to engage in renewable low impact agricultural, industrial and extractive activities

2017 Census of Agriculture State Profile:  Utah 

Improving Water Quality through Agricultural Practices

  •  Agricultural Voluntary Incentives Program  - The goal of the Agriculture Voluntary Incentive Program is to implement practices that can increase crop yields, improve soil health, and add value to operations, while improving water quality.
  •  Water Optimization Funding  - This program provides funding to reduce consumptive water use and provide increased operational flexibility for agriculture water users moving forward. As well as, improve Water Quantification: show accurate, real time measurement of diverted water to demonstrate actual water savings in CFS or acre foot.

Protecting Water Quality through Preservation of Agricultural Lands

  •  Conservation Division : The Utah Department of Agriculture and Food is working to raise public awareness about the values of protecting critical lands such as farmland, wetlands, and other open spaces.
  • UDAF holds agricultural conservation easements through our  Agriculture Loans  program
  •  Agricultural Conservation Easement Program : The Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) helps landowners, land trusts, and other entities protect, restore, and enhance wetlands, grasslands, and working farms and ranches through conservation easements.

  •  Utah Grazing Improvement Program : We seek to improve the productivity, health, and sustainability of our rangelands and watersheds. We believe that well planned and managed livestock grazing is the most important landscape-scale tool for maintaining healthy rangelands, watersheds, and wildlife habitats. Healthy rangelands contribute to a healthy livestock industry and productive rural economies. Our goals are to strengthen Utah’s livestock industry, improve rural economies, and to enhance the environment.

Prevent Overgrazing of Riparian Areas

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Mining

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Commercial Activity

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Guidelines:

Quick Reference Guide

Listen to Jack Green discuss the condition of the riparian zones in the Norther Wasatch Range:  Riparian Zones on Wild About Utah 

Utah Division of Water Rights:  Well Information 

Culinary water treatment and delivery of water resources is typically administered by Water Conservancy Districts. Utah Association of Special Districts:  Directory of Utah Water Conservancy Districts 

 United States Environmental Protection Agency :  Primer for Municipal Wastewater Treatment Systems 

 United States Environmental Protection Agency :  Septic Systems (Onsite/Decentralized Systems) 

2017 Census of Agriculture State Profile:  Utah