Don’t mow down to the stream bank's edge

                            

Incorrect. Streams need the area                             Correct. This stream bank has been left

alongside the bank to grow naturally                         with a natural buffer strip of trees and

to be healthy.                                                          other vegetation, making it a fun place

                                                                              for Iain McAlister to play!

 

   In Kentucky, it is common to see well-manicured stream banks, with mown edges and few trees, shrubs or wildflowers.  This may give the bank a tidy look, but it doesn't do much to help the stream.

   The plants growing along a stream bank, known as a riparian buffer, protect the stream’s water quality and its inhabitants in a variety of ways. The roots hold the soil and prevent the banks from eroding into the creek.  Roots also absorb water, nutrients and pollutants from storm water runoff, reducing flooding and contamination of the stream.  The tree branches and leaves shade the creek, cooling the waters for aquatic life.  Buffers also create habitat corridors for local birds, animals, and other wildlife.

   Realizing these benefits, many cities are beginning to enact “buffer ordinances,” which specify certain buffer widths (typically 30-100 feet) in which construction is not allowed and vegetation should be left undisturbed.  The City of Danville’s ordinance specifies a 25 feet buffer zone.
    (For more information, read “Living Along a Kentucky Stream,” a publication of the University of Kentucky’s Cooperative Extension Service, http://www.ca.uky.edu/agc/pubs/ip/ip73/ip73.pdf.)