Research Exploring Effectiveness of Riparian Buffers for Capturing Pesticides

USDA recommends riparian buffers, or vegetation along waterways, to prevent nutrients, sediment, and pesticides from causing water pollution. Penn State researchers are involved in a three-year investigation into the overall mitigation ability of riparian buffers, that included a study of a small agricultural watershed in Pennsylvania on karst topography. They found that while riparian buffers reduced the amount of some pesticides entering the stream, other pesticides soaked into the soil and moved with groundwater into the stream, effectively escaping the riparian buffer. This study tested for two herbicides often sprayed on fields to control weeds — Atrazine and Simazine — and four insecticides widely used by suppliers to coat and protect corn and soybeans seed — Clothianidin, Imidacloprid, Thiacloprid and Thiamethoxam. The most commonly detected pesticides in stream water were Simazine, in 93% of samples; Atrazine, in 92% of samples; and Clothianidin, in 75% of samples.
Related ATTRA publication: Agricultural Riparian Areas in Southern Appalachia