PennFuture model riparian buffer ordinance helps municipalities “get buff” by protecting water quality and saving money
PennFuture’s latest model ordinance and guidebook promotes clean water through a cheap, easy, natural pollution solution.
Today, PennFuture’s Legal Team released a model municipal ordinance and guidebook designed to give municipalities the tools they need to understand the benefits of riparian buffers and craft local regulations that leverage these benefits while balancing private property interests. Naturally Beneficial: Protecting Water Quality and Saving Money with Riparian Buffer Ordinances offers scientific evidence on the benefits of riparian buffers in communities experiencing threats from land development and climate-related extreme weather, and recommendations on buffer widths, implementation, and maintenance. Riparian buffers are vegetated areas along rivers, streams, lakes, and wetlands that help prevent pollution and mitigate climate change impacts.
Riparian buffers offer both ecological and economic benefits, including:
- flood control
- erosion control
- removal of sediment and other harmful pollutants from surface waters
- regulating water temperatures
- providing habitat for aquatic and terrestrial plants and animals
- providing aesthetic and recreational opportunities
- improving property values
- reducing the cost of municipal services like stormwater control and water treatment
“By protecting riparian buffers, municipalities can reap numerous benefits without the cost of building and maintaining expensive infrastructure,” said Brigitte Meyer, PennFuture staff attorney and author of the ordinance and guidebook. “This is especially important given regulatory gaps at the state level and recent trends toward very large land uses like warehouses and data centers that can wreak havoc on water quality if not properly managed. A well-crafted ordinance can mitigate impacts from these uses–and whatever new land uses come down the pike in the coming years–while ensuring that landowners retain a reasonable right to develop their property.”
The model ordinance is designed as a ready-to-adopt template, but it can also be customized to meet the unique needs of each municipality. This means local officials have the option to adopt the ordinance as presented or tailor specific provisions to fit their community's priorities.
As a first step, PennFuture encourages municipal officials to review the model ordinance and guidebook and contact PennFuture for guidance on tailoring these resources to their community’s needs.
On November 18, PennFuture and the Monroe County Conservation District will host a beginner-level webinar on understanding how riparian buffers work and the approach PennFuture’s model ordinance takes to protecting them. Getting Buff: How Riparian Buffers Protect Water Quality and Save Money is open to the public. RSVP is required for the Zoom link.