This commentary is by Karina Dailey, a restoration ecologist, and Jon Groveman, policy and water program director, both with the Vermont Natural Resources Council.
We all have one thing in common: Everyone needs water to survive. But all too often we forget that water needs our protection, and many of us also forget that water comes from somewhere — the lakes and rivers that feed into our reservoirs and aquifers that serve as Vermont’s water supply.
The Vermont watershed is the lifeblood of our communities. It is crucial to our survival.
With the worsening effects of a warming world, Vermont’s waterways are at risk. As extreme weather events increase in number, it is harder and harder to rely on our systems for clean water.
Healthy, intact freshwater systems (rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, floodplains and wetlands) are the heroes of our watersheds, serving integral functions in the ecosystem as a sponge for floods, filter for pollutants, and as biodiversity hotspots.
The recommendations in the Vermont Climate Action Plan echo this reality. The plan calls for protecting and promoting healthy, connected river corridors, floodplains and riparian areas along streams and wetlands, so Vermont can adjust to the alternating periods of heavy rain and drought caused by climate change.
The climate action plan explicitly recognizes that nurturing the health and function of Vermont’s lands and waters supports carbon sequestration and storage, climate resilience and adaptation.
We urge the Vermont Legislature to implement these policies in the climate action plan and pass bills to improve protections for the state’s river corridors, riparian areas and wetlands. These are policies that protect Vermonters’ clean water, and in turn protect the health and safety of our communities. We cannot turn our backs on clean water.
Riparian areas are the grasses, shrubs and trees that grow along streams — think of them as water edges. When left in their natural, vegetated condition, they serve as buffers to protect the banks of our streams and rivers from erosion, and work to filter and slow down stormwater runoff. Without riparian areas, water would rush over the sides of a stream bank into the neighborhoods nearby.
Riparian areas also regulate temperature to support fish, and these colder temperatures are increasingly important to protect biodiversity in our streams, as climate changes cause temperatures to rise. Riparian areas provide habitat and travel corridors for wildlife, offering shelter and a place to nest. They are vital for healthy streams and floodplain stability.
But in Vermont, most riparian areas are left unprotected, often in bare, unnatural states, putting communities and rivers at risk. The Vermont Natural Resources Council is calling for a study to move Vermont toward a statewide program to protect these vital resources.
River corridor protection is also vitally important to address the impacts of climate change. River corridors are the lands adjacent to a river, which allow the river to move and meander without causing damage to surrounding development and working lands.
Climate change is expected to increase flood damages by 148%, but floodplain restoration has the potential to reduce these impacts by approximately 20% (see this study in VTDigger). If we give the river the room it needs to move, allowing riverbanks to form and reform as the river evolves, then the river can be a dynamic, resilient system.
Protecting the river corridor from encroaching development gives it the space needed to adapt and change with the weather and, subsequently, the river’s hydrologic processes minimize erosion hazards and provide a healthier functioning system. Unfortunately, as with riparian areas, most river corridors are left unprotected in Vermont. The Vermont Natural Resources Council is calling for the Legislature to enact a program to oversee development in mapped river corridors statewide.
Wetlands are the important squishy ground where land and water intersect. The quick growth of wetland vegetation, matched with the slow vegetative decay within their saturated soil, provides a sink to absorb and store carbon dioxide, filter pollutants and sediment, and recharge groundwater. Wetland seeps and springs provide cold, clean water to our rivers and lakes, stable temperatures, enhance dissolved oxygen, and nurture habitat biodiversity.
Further, wetland floodplains provide important water storage from heavy rains (a University of Vermont study found that the Otter Creek wetlands and floodplains prevented $1.8 million in damages to the town of Middlebury during Tropical Storm Irene). Wetlands are the filters and sponges of our watersheds — without them, our drinking water is at risk for greater pollution.
We need to improve our protection of wetlands systems and amplify their importance for a healthy Vermont. In the face of climate change, we need to invest in land management practices that improve public safety, provide clean water, and protect habitat for a resilient future for all. The Vermont Natural Resources Council is calling for improvements to wetland protections in Vermont. Specifically, we urge the Legislature to enact a bill that will ensure that any impacts to wetlands from development are restored and the significant loss of wetlands that Vermont has experienced over decades is reversed.
Protecting riparian areas, river corridors and wetlands — as called for in the Climate Action Plan — is a crucial first step toward making Vermont resilient in the face of climate change.
