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Stream program (California Dept. of Water <br />Resources 1988). Small grants are provided to many <br />local governments. <br />A number of states including Maine, New York, <br />Vermont, Maryland, and South Carolina have <br />underway or have completed statewide river <br />inventories (NPS 1989; Eugster, this volume; <br />Morrison, this volume). Special planning efforts <br />have been completed for individual rivers (e.g., <br />the Severn in Maryland) (Davison, this volume). <br />Local Initiatives <br />Multiobjective management of river corridors <br />has become an important objective in local <br />governments throughout the nation. Perhaps the <br />most interesting and innovative multiobjective <br />management efforts and the ones offering the most <br />important insights into problem-solving approaches <br />are to be found in the cities and urbanizing <br />areas. (Coyle, this volume; Thurow et al. 1975; <br />Riley, in press; Aurelia, this volume; Kusler <br />1982; National Park Service, in press). Larger <br />and mid-sized cities have undertaken hundreds of <br />multiobjective river corridor management programs <br />for segments of specific rivers. It is estimated <br />that more than 500 greenway efforts now exist <br />across the nation. These include a broad range of <br />creative planning and plan implementation efforts <br />for rivers and adjacent lands undertaken in cities <br />as diverse as Denver, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, <br />Minneapolis, Chicago, Dallas, Austin, Sacramento, <br />and Boston. <br />Local efforts include a broad range of greenway <br />programs. Many of these efforts have been <br />characterized as "greenways" because they result <br />in at least partially open linear corridor areas <br />with a fair amount of grass and trees. But the <br />goal has often not been grass and trees in <br />themselves but rather flood conveyance, flood <br />storage, erosion loss reduction, recreation, water <br />quality protection, etc. These goals are often <br />best and most economically served by such open- <br />space, vegetated areas. <br />The application of the term "greenway" to these <br />areas does not imply uniformity in approach and <br />product. Many involve urban renewal and the <br />restoration of historic buildings for riverfront <br />commercial or residential use. Many involve parks, <br />golf courses, bike paths, walking paths, etc., <br />which, while green, are not "natural". Many <br />involve some measure of stream engineering <br />including bank stabilization, although restoration <br />of all or a portion of the bank channel and <br />wetlands is also common. But most share <br />multiobjective goals and a variety of other common <br />denominators such as strong citizen involvement, <br />innovative financing, and innovative designs. <br />RIVERINE WETLANDS AND RIPARIAN HABITATS <br />Location and Description <br />Protection and, in some instances, restoration <br />of riverine wetlands and riparian habitats has <br />become a major component of most federal, state, <br />and local multiobjective river management programs <br />Riverine wetlands are located in four principal <br />locations along river/stream corridors: <br />In low gradient headwater areas. <br />Marsh, shrub, and forested wetlands are located <br />in such areas. These wetlands are usually low <br />energy and do not have active sediment regimes. <br />Along the margins of rivers and stream channels. <br />The wetlands along the margins of streams and <br />in channels are usually quite narrow and linear <br />in shape. However, relatively large wetlands <br />lie within broader channel areas in some <br />southern river swamps. Most of these wetlands <br />lie within "floodway" areas. Most of these <br />wetlands are marshes. These are highly dynamic <br />systems because of the active water aPd <br />sediment supply. <br />On floodplains. <br />Most riverine wetlands are located on broader <br />floodplains, often behind natural levees formed <br />by deposition of sediment during floods. <br />wetlands here are also located in oxbows or <br />other depressions in the floodplain or in <br />groundwater discharge areas on the floodplain. <br />These floodplain wetlands include the extensive <br />"bottomland hardwoods" of the Mississippi. They <br />include marsh, shrub, and forested wetlands. <br />In estuary and delta areas. <br />Large estuarine wetland complexes are located <br />alongside channels, in floodplains, and behind <br />barrier islands in estuaries in the lower <br />reaches of many river systems. These wetlands <br />are subject not only to fluctuations in river <br />water level but tidal action. Many of these <br />wetlands are marshes. They are highly dynamic <br />systems with active sediment (often deposi- <br />tional) and hydrologic regimes. <br />Much of the floodplain along the major river <br />systems in the south, east and part of the midwest <br />is wet enough to meet federal "wetland" definition <br />criteria. However, other vegetated floodplain <br />systems in part of the midwest, the west, and the <br />southwest do not meet strict wetland definition <br />criteria although these lands play hydrological <br />and ecological roles similar to their "wetland" <br />counterparts. These areas are often referred to as <br />"riparian habitats" and have been the subject of a <br />number of national symposia (Johnson 1985). <br />The Functions and Values of Riverine Wetlands <br />Riverine wetlands and, in some instances, <br />"riparian habitats" serve the full range of wet- <br />land functions outlined in the literature and in <br />the papers which follow in this proceedings. <br />However, some functions are particularly important <br />in a riverine context: <br />Flood storage. <br />Riverine wetlands play important flood storage <br />roles, particularly where the wetlands are <br />quite large and occupy floodplains upstream to <br />7