USGS Study Shows Benefits
of Stream Fencing

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The U.S. Geological Survey recently published “Effects of Streambank Fencing of Near-Stream Pasture Land on a Small Watershed in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania,” which outlines the findings of a study conducted from 1993 to 2001. The study indicated that a small buffer width along a stream in pasture land can have a positive influence on surface water quality, benthic macroinvertebrates, and near-stream shallow groundwater quality. The vegetative buffer also controlled (or reduced) overland runoff processes that move suspended sediment to the stream. For more information, see http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2006/3112.