Conservation buffers are an effective and cost-efficient best management practice that can be used to improve water quality. They can be different-sized areas or strips in permanent vegetation that minimize soil erosion by reducing surface runoff. Conservation buffers also can trap and degrade a portion of runoff adsorbed to sediments or dissolved in water; they are seldom effective in trapping all pesticides in runoff. Conservation buffers can be used along with other best management practices to protect water quality.