2014 Research Highlights
Is the Neuse River Riparian Buffer Rule Wide Enough to Protect Water Quality?
The North Carolina Neuse River Riparian Buffer Rule requires that a 50-foot buffer remain around streams after a clearcut logging operation to protect water quality. Although this width has demonstrated effectiveness at water quality protection in the Piedmont of Georgia and other states, a literature review suggests that scientific data on the effectiveness and benefit of buffers are lacking in the Piedmont region of North Carolina. There is also still some debate about site-specific buffer design criteria such as type and size of trees to leave in the buffer and width of buffer to minimize blow down of trees growing at the stream edge. Study results will offer effective management strategies to best protect stream water quality in NC Piedmont streams after logging.
Results indicate that the Neuse River Riparian Buffer Rule is wide enough to protect water quality within the first few years after logging by limiting the production and movement of sediment to the stream and taking up nutrients before they reach the stream. However, three years after the logging, 36 percent of trees at the edge of the stream blew down, exposing soil to potential erosion. No streambank edge erosion or sedimentation has occurred so far but could happen in the future. Although the Buffer Rule was not designed to protect buffer trees from blowing down, additional best practices, such as avoid creating open gaps in the buffer or retain windfirm trees, should be considered as an amendment to ensure buffer functions are not compromised years after logging. Scientists from the Eastern Threat Center and staff from the North Carolina Forest Service will work to inform North Carolina state water management personnel on ways to manage against buffer tree blow down and the potential for stream edge erosion and water pollution. Erosion can degrade fish habitat and harm other aquatic species in ways that make respiration and feeding difficult.
External Partners/Collaborators: NC Forest Service; Weyerhaeuser
Contact: Johnny Boggs, johnny.boggs@usda.gov
Right: A buffer tree is blown down near a stream's edge. Photo by Johnny Boggs, USDA Forest Service.
