Assessing the Impacts of Streamside Ordinance Protection on the Spatial and Temporal Variability in Urban Riparian Vegetation

Preserving riparian vegetation is important for maintaining water quality and riparian functions. Streamside protection ordinances have been widely established in many rapidly urbanizing areas, however, there has been a lack of assessment of the effectiveness of such ordinances. A study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of riparian vegetation preservation with and without ordinance protection. SPOT imagery was used to classify landscape changes over time (1992 through 2012) across multiple jurisdictions and pre- and post-ordinance implementation periods. Results indicated the spatial and temporal patterns of vegetation change differed by administrative areas and ordinance boundaries. The rate of tree loss and gains in developed lands in ordinance-protected areas generally increased following implementation of ordinances but at a lower rate than in non-ordinance areas. These findings suggest spatial and temporal monitoring of riparian ordinance implementation across adjacent jurisdictions is important to ensure the full effects of the ordinance protection on stream systems. Such monitoring and assessments can be used by local decision makers to adapt existing ordinances or in the development of new ordinances.