Key Buffer Choices for the Watershed Manager

• How much of the aquatic corridor can be

protected by buffers?

• How should buffers be managed and crossed?

• Is restoration or better stewardship possible

along an aquatic corridor that has already been

developed?

• How will the buffer network be managed?

• Long-term maintenance?

• How much pollutant removal is to be expected by

the buffer network?

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When applying the buffer tool, a watershed manager must make some careful choices about which kinds of buffers are needed and how wide they must be. In many cases, a new buffer ordinance may need to be adopted or an old one revised to establish a more effective buffer network within a subwatershed. A watershed manager faces many tough questions when designing a buffer program for a subwatershed.