What is the Riparian Buffer Program?

The Minnehaha Creek Watershed District (MCWD) in conjunction with the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) has embarked on a proactive landowner incentive program to further its mission to conserve and protect District water resources through the use of easements (buffers) bordering targeted river systems and associated wetlands. Through the program qualified landowners will receive a yearly stipend throughout the life of an established contract to establish and maintain easements on their lands in accordance with federal land improvement programs.

Who can enroll in the program?

MCWD staff has contacted landowners with parcels adjacent to targeted susceptible waterbodies and their associated wetlands and tributaries. For the pilot year of the program, lands within the Painters Creek and Six-Mile Creek subwatersheds were selected due to their likelihood for future development and overall pollutant load into Lake Minnetonka, but other subwatersheds will likely be evaluated for induction into the program in future years.

In order to qualify for enrollment into the program:

1. Parcels must be five acres or more in size and must contain eligible wetland buffer area identified by MCWD (a 50-foot buffer from a delineated wetland).
2. Parcels must not currently be subject to any encumbrance or easement providing similar water resource benefits as a vegetated buffer.
3. Landowners must enroll in one of the following NRCS administered programs (all funds distributed by MCWD to enrolled landowners would be in addition to any federal funding):
   • The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)
   • The Environmental Quality Improvement Program (EQIP)
   • The Wildlife Habitat Improvement Program (WHIP)

How does this program benefit MCWD and the Community?

Buffers function to protect water resources by providing an area for pollutant settling and flood storage, in addition to providing various other benefits for wildlife and the ecosystem. Further, the areas that buffers inhabit are generally not very suitable to farming, building, and other uses due to periodic flooding. By providing incentives to establish buffers around pollutant susceptible waterbodies, the MCWD reduces its future needs for costly projects to repair damaged waters while at the same time giving qualifying landowners a profitable alternative for lands that typically are less productive.

To learn more about the benefits that buffers provide, visit one of the following websites each of which will open in a new browser window:

• USDA Riparian Buffer Conservation Plan Document (MS Word Document)
• NRCS Conservation Buffer Description
• NRCS Buffer Brochure
• Benefits of Wetland Buffers: A Study of Functions, Values and Size (report prepared for MCWD by Emmons and Olivier Resources, Inc.)

How do I find out more?

To learn more about the Riparian Buffer Program contact Mike Wyatt, MCWD District Planner. To learn more about the NRCS and its programs, visit the NRCS website.

Downloadable Templates

• Lake Buffer Template
• Stream Buffer Template
• Wetland Buffer Template