In the La Vieja river watershed, Colombia, aquatic environments have been under high pressure as a result of deforestation, agricultural expansion and pasturelands established without protecting the streams. A proposed strategy to reduce the impact of human activities on streams is the establishment of riparian corridors. In this study, the biotic and abiotic characteristics of streams draining pasture-dominated catchments were evaluated by comparing streams with and without the protection of riparian corridors. Fifteen pasture-dominated watersheds were chosen to collect information about habitat, water quality and macroinvertebrate communities. Five out of the 15 watersheds had riparian corridors to protect the streams. Results showed that streams with riparian corridors presented lower turbidity, Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD5) and coliforms in the water, and had more diversity of inorganic substrates. The relative abundance of the Trichoptera order and Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera combined was higher in the protected streams, showing that the stream environment is more suitable for these taxa, which are sensitive to perturbation. Riparian corridors proved useful in reducing the negative impact of cattle grazing on small watersheds of the La Vieja river catchment both by reducing water quality deterioration and by providing a better physical habitat for the aquatic fauna.