Riparian Areas

What are riparian areas?

Riparian areas are strips of green vegetation influenced by water and found around creeks, sloughs, rivers, and lakes.

Riparian areas are found in grasslands, montane foothills, and boreal forest lands throughout the Province of Alberta. We derive many values and uses from riparian areas, such as:

• Agriculture
• Clean water
• Fish and wildlife habitat

Functions of Riparian Areas

To continue providing beneficial soil, water and habitat, riparian areas must remain healthy and carry out important functions, such as:

• Trapping and storing sediment
• Building and maintaining banks and shores
• Storing water and energy
• Recharging aquifers
• Filtering and buffering water
• Reducing and dissipating energy created by the water body (example: stream flow and lake waves)
• Maintaining biodiversity
• Creating primary productivity like forage and browse

Guides and Workbooks

Learn more about riparian areas and riparian health. Visit:

• Evaluating Livestock Use of Boreal Grazing Lands – Benjamin Creek Project: 2007 – 2009 – Nov 2011 (8 pages)
• Evaluating Livestock Use of Boreal Grazing Lands - Kimiwan Lake Project – Jan 2011 (7 pages)
• Kimiwan Lake GPS Collar Project – Oct 2011 (32 Pages)
• Riparian Areas: Important Natural Assets - May 2007 (2 pages)
• Riparian Recovery Trial – Campbell Creek- Sep 2009 (19 pages)

Alberta Sustainable Development partners with the Alberta Riparian Habitat Management Society (Cows and Fish) to promote healthy riparian areas and their sustainable management. For additional information about this topic, please visit the Cows and Fish website at:

• Cows and Fish – Alberta Riparian Habitat Management Society

Access:

• Riparian health assessment information
• Riparian health assessment workbooks
• Riparian health inventory forms
• User manuals for streams and small rivers, large rivers, and lakes, wetlands and sloughs

Riparian Health Assessment Workbooks

To answer the question "Is this riparian area healthy?" consider doing a Riparian Health Assessment using Riparian Health Assessment Field Workbooks.

These are pocket guides for landowners to easily determine the health of their riparian area and an education and awareness aid for resource managers.

For streams and small rivers, visit the Riparian Health Assessment page of the Cows and Fish website at:

• Riparian Health Assessment for Streams and Small Rivers Field Workbook

For lakes, ponds, wetlands and sloughs, visit the Riparian Health Assessment page of the Cows and Fish website at:

• Riparian Health Assessment for Lakes, Sloughs and Wetlands Field Workbook

 

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Updated: November 16, 2011