Evaluation of Buffer Width on Hydrologic Function, Water Quality, and Ecological Integrity of Wetlands

Runoff generated on areas contributing to wetlands help to sustain the hydrology, nutrient balances and plant life/wildlife of the wetlands. When the runoff generated is affected by human activity it can have a detrimental effect on the natural hydrologic balance of a wetland, and also adversely affect the quality of the wetland water as well as adversely affect the wetland plant and animal ecosystem. Buffers surrounding wetlands have the potential to protect the water quality and ecological quality of the wetlands from the stresses of human activities. Buffers serve to infiltrate excess water, excess nutrients and toxic substances, and also help to provide some shelter to wetland associated plants and animals from direct contact with adjacent human activities. This project attempted to address the question of how large should wetland buffers be to provide sufficient protection from human activities on adjacent lands. Currently the Wetlands Conservation Act (WCA) guideline is that a 50-foot buffer should be used as a minimum. Of course, there is development and economic pressures to minimize the buffer size because the greater the size of the buffer, the more land becomes unusable for development. Therefore, it is important to minimize the size of the buffer while not adversely affecting the hydrologic, water quality, and ecological health of the system.