WISCONSIN—The USDA Forest Service and Natural Resource Conservation Service jointly developed a robust interactive map to prioritize waterway enhancement in the contiguous United States.

About 77% of drinking water in the United States originates from surface water sources such as streams, rivers, lakes and reservoirs. Agriculture and developed land uses can degrade water quality, and runoff can carry sediments and nutrients that can enter surface water and pollute these waterways.

The Buffering America’s Waterways interactive tool highlights where there is cropland in the riparian area of watersheds important to surface drinking water across the contiguous United States.

Eastern Region Watershed Forester Ryan Toot said, “This unique tool identifies watersheds across the country where there is opportunity to enhance surface drinking water quality by establishing trees, shrubs, and other perennial vegetation in riparian areas.”

Landowners can enhance surface drinking water through the management of riparian areas, the interface between land and water.

This tool identifies cropland in three different buffer widths adjacent to surface water bodies—10-meter (≈ 33 feet), 30-meter (≈ 98 feet), and a variable width based on information including the 50-year flood height. It uses Forests to Faucets to identify surface water sources important to drinking water.

Conservationists and land managers can use the tool to identify areas where trees, shrubs and/or grasses could be planted or enhanced to filter water running off cropland to improve water quality at the landscape scale. The tool can help prioritize watersheds for work to protect and enhance surface drinking water quality.

Riparian forest buffers can enhance water quality by capturing nutrients and sediments, cool stream temperatures and provide a suite of other ecosystem services, including wildlife habitat.

Buffering America’s Waterways is also a valuable educational tool to inform stakeholders of the positive impacts riparian practices have on improving water quality.