York Town News
Water quality and flooding: learn the importance of riparian corridors on Nov. 28
By Jennifer L. Saunders
YORK - Do you know what a riparian corridor is and why it's important to land use in town?You'll have the chance to learn all about riparian corridors, where they are in town and how they impact water quality and relate to land use ordinances at a special public meeting being hosted by the Planning Department at the York Public Library on Tuesday, Nov. 28, at 7 p.m.
Using the tools of the town's Geographical Information System (GIS) as well as aerial photography, Jon Discher of the Planning Department will present a report about riparian corridors and offer the public a bird's eye view of these important areas.
Riparian corridors are the natural land areas surrounding streams.
These corridors are important to the town because they control erosion, reduce sedimentation and limit pollution of local waters, streams, Discher explained in his preliminary report, which has been discussed by the Planning Board and will be formally presented next week.
"Overall, 89 percent of York's riparian buffers are intact," Discher wrote in the report of his study, adding that while that is good news for the town, currently, however, 16 percent - or just over 117,000 feet of streams - falls into unregulated areas.
Discher has organized the streams by size, with fourth-order constituting the largest waterways and first-order meaning the smallest. York has almost 136 miles of streams, with the York River as the largest watershed in town.
"Healthy streams and stream corridors are important to the natural community and to people of the town of York," Discher noted in his report.
Town Planner Steve Burns said he hopes local residents will attend the meeting to learn more about how riparian corridors relate to local planning, as well as how the town is using GIS for project such as this.
"This report contains important information about the condition and regulation of York's streams," he explained in announcing the upcoming meeting. "It builds on the general information in the Natural Resources Chapter of the Comprehensive Plan, and it will help us better understand our water resources as we overhaul the Shoreland Map this coming year. It's also a great example of how we can use our GIS to analyze resources - it's not just a tool to draw maps."
The report includes recommendations as well, including expanding the town's Shoreland Overlay District to include unprotected second-order streams and deciding whether to protect the approximately 115,000 feet of unregulated first-order streams.
"Although these streams are small in size, their associated corridors are just as important as the corridors of higher order streams, and should be afforded the same status as the higher order streams," the report states.
As Burns said in his November Planning Department newsletter, the information on riparian corridors is especially pertinent as the town delves into the issues of flooding, drainage and water quality.
"The two most important controls the town can impose to protect water quality are the protection of riparian corridors and control of impervious surfaces," he said, adding that, together, "these two projects will enable us to make informed decisions about our land use controls."
For more, attend Tuesday's forum at the York Public Library or visit the Planning Department's link at the town's website, www.yorkmaine.org.
