CDCGeoSWG Series #5: Riparian Buffers Traditional Cache
CDCGeoSWG Series #5: Riparian Buffers
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(micro)
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Placed in time for CDC’s 2012 GIS week, this is the fifth in a series of caches that are linked to notable public health people, events, or themes. This cache is accessible from a path along a waterway within a local urban green space.
In the United States, we can usually depend on safe water for drinking, food production, and recreation, thanks to effective water treatment and protective environmental policies. Despite these safeguards, outbreaks of waterborne diseases still occur, often after a severe precipitation event (rainfall, snowfall). Storm water runoff can carry pollutants such as pesticides and fecal coliform bacteria into our lakes and streams, contaminating potential sources for drinking water. This non-point source pollution is one of the major threats to water quality in the United States and is linked to chronic and acute illnesses from exposure through drinking water, seafood, and contact recreation.
One method to prevent the infiltration of non-point source pollution into lakes, rivers, and streams is the establishment and maintenance of riparian buffers – vegetated areas surrounding water bodies. Riparian buffer vegetation slows and filters runoff water above ground, causing sediment to settle out and become deposited in the buffer rather than into the water body. Additionally, riparian buffers help reduce stream bank erosion and shade stream which helps maintain fish habitat by regulated water temperatures.
As you visit this example of a riparian buffer, check out the water quality in the stream near the cache. If your feet get wet, you’ve gone too far off the path. After you’ve signed the log, sit for a spell and contemplate how many other geocaches you have encountered in such riparian buffers!
Additional Hints
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