It calls for restoring the land closest to streams, rivers, and other vulnerable waterways with plantings of native vegetation. Agriculture's part in this is substantial.īut now, a new trend in farming is taking root. Environmental Protection Agency survey released last year, pollution is a serious problem in 21 percent of the nation's 2000 or so watersheds. Urban sprawl has also claimed its share, compromising water quality in the process. Historically, farmers have cleared these riparian areas to make more room for growing crops. These forest buffers protect the stream water by removing pollutants in farm runoff. But there is more at work here than just natural beauty. To measure nitrogen runoff in the Pacific northwest, plant physiologist Steve Griffith collects water samples from a monitor well inside the riparian zone near the Calapooya River.Ī stretch of forest along a quiet stream or creek can make for pleasing scenery, especially during the fall, as the trees' leaves blaze a fiery orange.
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