7377

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 7377
• Author: Kusler, J. A. and S. Daly.
• Title: Wetlands and River Corridor Management.
• USFW Year: 1989.
• USFW - Doc Type: \
• Copyright Material: NO

for many of the remaining rivers which are already
subject to a myriad of uses and are subject to a
broad range of competing demands. Protection/
development decisions can also not be resolved
with a simple decision to "protect in its natural
state" or "develop". Instead, more specific goals
must be formulated for particular areas reflecting
a broad range of factors including, in some
instances, restoration of degraded river and
adjacent corridor areas.
- Many of the most suitable sites for dams and
reservoirs and, to a lesser extent, other
engineering works have already been utilized.
Remaining sites often offer lower cost/benefit
ratios or are unsuitable geologically or
hydrologically for structural works. Existing
residential, commercial, or industrial development
has also effectively "preempted" many sites due to
the high cost of land acquisition for developed
areas. This means that alternative multiobjective
approaches to flood loss reduction and erosion
control may be particularly attractive.
- Interest in rivers has broadened to include
mid-size and small rivers, including creeks, and
drainageways. Most of the floodplain mapping and
river gauging, assessment, planning, and river
management efforts in the U.S. in the 1960's-
1980's addressed larger rivers and streams and
adjacent lands. Most of the protection/development
disputes also concerned these highly visible and
heavily used water bodies. But, in the last decade
interest has broadened to include the mid-size and
smaller rivers, streams and creeks for a variety
of reasons. First, much of the pollution from
nonpoint sources is being carried into the larger
rivers from urban runoff, stormwater, agricultural
runoff and other sources along smaller rivers,
streams and creeks. It is impossible to improve
water quality on the larger rivers without
addressing problems at their source. Second, many
of the prime wetlands, wildlife areas, and habitat
areas lie along smaller "feeder" rivers and
streams. Third, it has been gradually recognized
that much of the flood and "drainage" damage
occurring in the U.S. is occurring adjacent to
small and midsize rivers and streams which often
lack floodplain maps, gauging, or regulations. In
addition, increased runoff from small rivers and
streams in urbanized areas is, collectively,
greatly increasing flood peaks on larger rivers
and streams. Fourth, public river-related
recreation interests and needs have broadened to
include rafting, kayaking, tubing and fishing in
small creeks and rivers. In addition, the lands
adjacent to small rivers and creeks is used
increasingly for walking, hiking, birdwatching,
nature watching, jogging, etc.
- Interest in river protection and restoration
has broadened from primarily a rural orientation
to one that includes urban and urbanizing rivers
and streams. At one time there was,little interest
in urban rivers and streams except for development
purposes (warehouses, docks, ports). However, with
improved water quality in the nation's rivers and
shifting public needs, interest has shifted in
cities across the nation to restoration of
waterfronts and protection of undeveloped areas,
restoration of historic buildings and "heritage"
areas, providing parks and walking areas, and
enhancing the economic values of riverfront areas
for commercial and residential use. In the last
twenty years many of the most innovative river and
river corridor restoration efforts have been in
the cities (Rusler 1982b; NPS, in press; Riley, in
press). It is now rare for a large or mid-size
city not to have some sort of river and stream
waterfront protection, restoration, or management
plan.
- The constituencies for river corridor protec-
tion, restoration, and management have broadened.
At one time, the major proponents of river
management were navigational interests (barge
traffic, etc.), commercial and industrial
developers, and boaters, and flood loss reduction
planners and engineers. Engineering approaches
such as dredging and construction of dams were
often favored by these groups. In the 1960's and
1970's, the number of fishermen and nonpower boat
(canoe, raft, sailboat) river recreational users
favoring free-flowing streams and open, vegetated
floodplains increased. In the 1980s these groups
were joined by many others: birdwatchers; joggers;
kayakers; rafters; "tubers"; and owners of stores,
motels, hotels, and shops desiring an attractive
nearby river or stream environment; residential
subdividers and developers also desiring an
attractive environment for residents, etc.; and
specialists in nonstructural flood and erosion
loss measures. Collectively, these groups have
substantial political clout at all levels of
government.
- Legislative and other government management
goals for rivers and adjacent lands have
broadened. At one time, the legislative goals
contained in programs for management of rivers or
stretches of river were often a single objective
or limited to several objectives. For example,
channelization was carried out for tens of
thousands of miles of smaller creeks with the
legislative objectives of draining land with
agricultural potential and reducing flood losses.
Dams were often constructed on larger rivers for a
single principal legislative objective: flood
control, navigation, or hydropower. Due to
broadened public interests and concerns, the
legislative goals for river and adjacent river
corridor management have broadened.
- New federal, state, and local regulations
have been adopted which codify these goals and
provide new, tougher standards for water and
shoreland uses. These new objectives have, to a
greater or lesser extent, been codified in various
regulatory requirements which act as restraints on
traditional engineering projects. These regula-
tions include federal, state, and local wetlands
regulations including the "no net loss standard",
state and federal instream flow requirements,
state and federal nonpoint source pollution
control requirements, state and federal stormwater
requirements (e.g. a recent E.P.A. requirement
that cities over 100,000 population prepare
stormwater management water quality plans), state
and local floodplain regulations, state and local
special "stream and local" river controls, and
various comprehensive zoning and planning
regulations with natural resource management
components.
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