Adams County Soil & Water Conservation District  338 South 36th Street  Quincy, IL   62301
Phone:  217/224-9305, Ext. 3  E-mail:  janet.beckman@il.nacdnet.net  Fax:  217/224-4969

Why Stream Stewardship?

As a landowner along a stream, you have the opportunity to improve water quality in your stream as well as provide habitat for the many aquatic organisms that live there. What you do in your everyday life – from mowing the lawn to watering the garden to washing the car – can affect your stream’s overall health. Understanding your stream and how your activities can alter that stream is the first step in protecting water quality and improving quality of life.

What is a Riparian Corridor?

All streams have a riparian corridor, commonly known as the floodplain. Riparian corridors stretch along each stream and are as wide as where flooding occurs. This corridor serves as the stream’s buffer – under natural conditions, the vegetation growing in the corridor traps sediments and filters out fertilizers and pesticides. The corridor may be very wet and support trees, shrubs, grasses and other species OR may be only occasionally wet and support vegetation that can grow under changeable conditions.

In Adams County, riparian corridors support trees like willow, silver maple, green ash, black walnut and river birch; shrubs like serviceberry and dogwood; and grasses like prairie cordgrass and blue joint grass. For a listing of desirable vegetation. click here.