Washington State Department of Ecology

Publication Summary

Title	Focus Sheet: Riparian Areas
Month-Year Published	March 2001
Online Availability	View this publication in Acrobat PDF format 72 kilobytes, requires version 4.0 or later of Adobe Acrobat Reader Software get Acrobat Reader
Short Description	What are riparian areas? Riparian areas are the transition zones between land and water environments. When healthy, these narrow strips of land along streams, rivers, and lakes are usually covered with dense vegetation, including trees, shrubs and grasses. The abundance of water and unique plant communities make riparian areas different from the drier uplands. (Also see abstract below)
Publication Number	00-10-023
Print Availability	Not available as a printed document Please use your personal computer to print this two-page document. Thank you.
Number of pages	2
Keywords	Focus sheet, grass, lake, lakes, plan, riparian, river, soil, TREE, trees, water
Abstract	Long Description
	What are riparian areas? Riparian areas are the transition zones between land and water environments. When healthy, these narrow strips of land along streams, rivers, and lakes are usually covered with dense vegetation, including trees, shrubs and grasses. The abundance of water and unique plant communities make riparian areas different from the drier uplands. Riparian areas are a productive and valuable resource. They play a crucial role in the ecological health of our region′s surface water. Yet, riparian areas are very fragile and must be managed carefully if we wish to retain their vegetation, soil, and the many social, economic, and environmental benefits they provide.

This page last updated August 11, 2011

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