AUTHOR Sever,c.rf TITLE Virginia 3 Waters. INSTITUTION … · 2014-03-18 · DOCUMENT RESUME. SE 050 912. Sever,c.rf. Kathryn P.; And Others Virginia 3 Waters. Virginia Jater Resource

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Sever,c.rf Kathryn P.; And OthersVirginia 3 Waters.Virginia Jater Resource Research Center,Blacksburg.

Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D. C.Jun 89C-003324-01-049p.; Some photographs and maps may not reproducewell. Partially funded by the Virginia EnvironmentalEndowment.

Virginia Water Resources Research Center,Publications Services, 617 N. Main Street,Blacksburg, VA 24060 ($10.00).Reports - Descriptive (141)

MF01 Plus Postage. PC Not Available from EDRS.Conservation (Environment); 'Environment;Environmental Education; Environmental Standards;Natural Resources; *Regional Characteristics;*Science Materials; *Water; Water Pollution; *WaterResources; Water Treatment*Ground Water; *Virginia

This booklet describes the water resources inVirginia. Hain se,tions included are: (1) "Introduction" (providing ageneral overview of the richness and diversity of Virginia's waterresources both economic and recreational); (2) "River Basins"(illustrating the area drained by nine rivers and their tributaries);(3) "Bays" (including the Chesapeake and Back Bays); (4) "Lakes"(describing the state's two major natural lakes and its manyreservoirs); (5) "Groundwater" (presenting information on fivephysiographic provinces); and (6) "Management." The booklet isillustrated with numerous color photographs and several maps. (YP)

Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made* from the original documeht.

4 voirginia's Waters

"PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THISMATERIAL IN MICROFICHE ONLYHAS EN GRANTED BY

TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCESINFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) "

U S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONOffice of Educational ReaearCh and Improvement

EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATIONCENTER IERICI

This document has been reproduced as

received from the person or organitaticn\originating it

0 Minor changes have been made to improve

reproduction quality

Points of view or opinions staled in this Oathrtieht do not necessarily represent official

at nether

What is OutYirgihrial

There is the name. Virginia. It sings itself . . . .

The very land is in=

it* name.inia,undulating roll of Virg

make

1,4 the Blue Ridge Mountainsinthe

way to the Chesapeake Bay

--Guy FriddellWhat Is It About Vi finial

3

,,'.`

Virginia's Waters

ByKathryn P. Sevebeck,

Jacob H. Kahn,and Nancy L. Chapman

Photographs by Jacob H. Kahn

Virginia Water Resources Research Center

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State UniversityBlacksburg Virginia

4

The preparation of this document was financed in part through a grant fromthe Unit.1 States Environmental Protection Agency under Section 1143(b)

of the Safe Drinking Water Act (Grant No. C-003324-01-0)and through a grant from the

Virginia Environmental Endowment

The views and opinions expressed in this bock do not necessarilyreflect those of the funding organizations, nor domes mention of trade names

of commercial products constitute their endorsement or recommendation for use

The quotation from What Is It About Virginia?is reprinted with permission

©1966 Guy Friddell

CoverJames River from the Blue Ridge Parkway. Photograph by Jacob H. Kahn

Map Preparation: George V. WillsDesign: Edward Born

First Printing, March 1986Second Printing, May 1986Third Printing, June 1987Fourth Printing, June 1989

Additional copies of this publication, while the supply lasts,may be obtained from the Virginia Water Resources Research Center,

617 N Main St , Blacksburg, VA 24060-3397 Single copies are providedfree to persons and organizations within Virginia. For those

out-of-state, the charge is S8 a copy if payment accompaniesorder, or $10 a copy if billing is to follow

A publication of the Virginia Water Resources Research Center,Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University William R. Walker,

director, Edward Born, assistant director for publications

Virginia Tech does not discriminate against employees, students,or applicant: on the basis of race, sex, handicap, age, veteran status,

national origin, religion, or political affiliation. Anyonehaving questions concerning discrimination should contact

the Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Office

1 86 5m 5 86 4M 6 87 15C 6 89 6M

,_.

,

CRABPOTS, ORANCOCK

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . iv

INTRODUCTION 1

RIVER BASINS 3Potomac-Shenandoah 6Rappahannock 10York 12James 14Roanoke 18New 20Tennessee-Big Sandy 22Chcwan 24Coastal Rivers 26

BAYS 29Chesapeake 29Back 31

LAKES 33

GROUNDWATER 35

MANAGEMENT 38

Virginia's Waters: Contents iii

C

RUNNELS, HOG ISLAND

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

MANY PERSONS contributed to the making of Virginia's Waters. Weare especially thankful to the men and women who reviewed themanuscript: James Campbell, Department of Geography, VirginiaTech; Linda Dellers, College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech;Susan Ennett, National Wildlife Federation; Barry Fox, Marine 4-Hprograms, Virginia State; Guy Friddell, Virginian-Pilot Susan Gilley,Virginia Commission of Game and Inland Fisheries; John Heerwald,Division of Parks and Recreation; Robert Huntley, Best Products Co.,Inc.; Lee Lawrence, Virginia Institute of Marine Science; and SandySnook, Institute of Government, University of Virginia.

To Sue Taylor, a former member of the Water Center staff, andBennie Stauffer go our thanks for word-processing the manuscriptand offering suggestions for improvement in the process. We thankLois Cummings for style editing and typesetting the manuscript.

Finally, we wish to acknowledge the financial support of theVirginia Environmental Endowment and the Region III (Philadelphia)Office of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Without theirsupport, this publication would not have been possible.

iv Virginia's Waters: Acknowledgments

VIRGINIA is rich in waterresources. It has 976square milesof surface water,

including lakes, tidal rivers and bays,and more than 3,000 miles of nonti-dal rivers and streams. There aremore than 450 public fishing streams,1,500 m!!es of stocked trout streams,and an estimated 50,000 small farmponds and lakes. Under the protec-tion of the Virginia Scenic Rivers Act,225 miles of state waters have beenGiven Scenic River designations.

To the east, the Commonwealthhas more than 5,000 miles of shore-line on the Atlantic 0c. 1 and theChesapeake Bay. To the north, thePotomac River serves as Virg i.tia'sboundary with Maryland and the Dis-trict of Columbia. Two of the state'slargest reservoirs, Lake Gaston andBuggs island, straddle the Com-monwealth's southern border. TheAppalachian Mountains, which dom-inate the western sections of Virgi-nia, are the source of water for manyof Virginia's major rivers and thelocation for most of its famous springs.

In a typical year, Virginia receivesan average 42 inches of precipita-tion, 12 inches above the nationalaverage. Only a small portion of thetotal precipitation falls directly on thestate's surface water. The remainingportion evaporates; runs off intostreams, rivers, lakes and the ocean;or enters the ground and is taken upby plant roots or become.s ground-water. With the exception of the NewRiver and the Potomac River, most ofthe water entering Virginia's streamsfalls within the state's boundaries.

Introduction

Virginia is drained by nine majorriver basins. Two, the New and theTennessee-Big Sandy, drain into theMississippi River. Water from theother seven flow into the AtlanticOcean.

D !VERSE beauty abounds.The running water of mountain

streams and springs both above andbelowground have formed such won-ders as Natural Bridge in RockbridgeCounty, Natural Tunnel in ScottCounty, and Natural Chimneys nearHarrisonburg in Augusta County.Groundwater has created approxi-mately 1,790 caverns in Virginia. Thestate has a number of major water-falls including Falling Spring Falls,Abrams Falls, Crabtree Falls, the Cas-cades, Twin Falls, Cedar Creek Falls,and Great Falls on the Potomac.

Virginia has onlytwo natural lakes,Mountain Lake in Southwest Virgi-nia and Lake Drummond in the GreatDismal Swamp in southeast Virginia.The state's many reservoirs, whichcover more than 160,000 acres, werecreated by the damming of creeksand rivers to provide water supply,flood control, power generation, soilconservation, and recreation.

The Chesapeake Bay, into whichthe waters from five of Virginia'snine river basins flow, is the mostsparkling jewel in the tiara of Vir-ginia's waters. It is an avenue ofcommerce, a source of food, and ascenic wonder.

The waters of Virginia have playedan important role in its economic andrecreational development. From the

O

early water-powered grist mills, tothe canal systems built for water-borne transportation, and to the"healing waters" mineral springs,Virginia's waters have strongly influ-enced the development of the state.

The first public utility in the Colon-ial America was a ferryboat opera-tion to carry citizens across Virginia'stidal rivers from the principal settle-ments to the outlying plantations.Ferry crossing points became thestarting point for highways and roads.Later bridges spanned the riversbetween these points. Today, ninehistoric wooden covered bridges stillstand.

THE waters of Virginia are1 important to all of us. Water is as

critical to our well-being today as italways has been. It is a necessity oflife; it provides routes for transporta-tion of goods, materials, and otherresources; it promotes the growth ofall our food sources; it powers muchof our industry; and it is the sourcefor most of our recreational pursuits.Water is the most common, mostabundant, most useful to life of any ofthe substances known.

Although we often take water forgranted and at one time called it an"inexhaustible resource," we knowthat water is a limited resourcewhich is easily wasted, carelesslypolluted, and always influenced byour activities. Virginia's waters are aprecious resource. We hope thatreading Virginia's Waters will increaseyour understanding and appreciationof them.

Virginia's Waters: Introduction 1

GEOLOGISTS define a riverbasinor watershed, to usethe hydrologist's termas

the area drained by a river and itstributaries.

Exactly what constitutes a river ortributary, however, depends on one'spoint of view. For example, the Shenandoah River is a tributary of thePotomac when one is consideringthe entire Potomac River Basin. Butwhen one studies the Shenandoah

Twilight on the New River,Montgomery County (facing page).

River Basins

River Basin, the Shenandoah becomesthe river and the North and Southforks its tributaries.

Within certain limits, then, howwe define a river basin is subjective.For the sake of consistency, we haveadopted the definitions of the VirginiaStateWater Control Board, the agencymost responsible for managing Vir-ginia's waters.

These river systems are as diverseas the geology and geography of theland through which they flow. Attimes their rivers flow gently, almostimperceptibly. At other times their

riversas those of the James andRoanoke basins have demonstratedon three occasions since 1969arecapable of unleashing with incredibleswiftness a destructive force ofunimagined power.

There is a sameness to them aswell. Their rivers flow through areasof breathtaking beauty and throughareas that have been despoiledalmost beyond repair by man. Allhave contributed immeasurably tothe material and spiritual prosperityof the men and women who havesettled on the banks of their rivers.

Scenic Rivers Act: Preserving Our Heritage

THE SCENIC RIVERS ACT provides for thepreservation of rivers or sections of riversof exceptional natural beauty Since itsenactment in 1970, 11 sections of 10rivers, totaling 225 stream miles, havebeen included in the Virginia Scenic RiversSystem.

Inclusion requires the preser-vation of stream banks and surroundingareas andprohibits the building of dams orother structures that would impede the

natural flow of the river in the designatedsection. Stream sections in the system are

1 14 mi of the James from 2 mi SE ofRoute 43 intersection at Eagle Rockto Route 60 at Spring wood inBotetourt County.

2. 8 mi of the James from Orleans St ,Richmond, to city limits (Bosher'sDam).

3. 64 mi of the Rappahannock nearChester Gap to Deep Run.

4. 6 mi. of the Appomattox in Din-widdie and Chesterfield countiesbetween Lake Chesdin and theSussex-Southampton county line

5 33 mi of the Nottoway in SussexCounty between Route 40 inter-section and Sussex-Southamptoncounty line.

6 26 mi of the Rivanna in FluvannaCounty from Albemarle County lineto the James

7 14 mi. of the Shenandoah in ClarkeCounty from the Warren County lineto Lockes Landing

8 10.8 mi. of the Staunton in Camp-bell County from Long Island toBrookneal

9 6 mi. of the St Mary's in AugustaCounty from the headwaters to theGeorge Washington National Forestboundary

10 27.5 mi. of Goose Cr in LoudounCounty from the Fauquier Countyline to the Potomac

11. 16 mi of Catoctin Cr. in LoudounCounty from Waterford to thePotomac

Virginia's Waters: River Basins 30

River Basins in Virginia

Potomac-Shenandoah Ell New

Rappahannock Tennessee-Big Sandy

York Chowan

James Coastal Rivers

Roanoke

t.Levis

Fork

John .

44,14e( Flannigan Res.

PO. RussellFork

Norton

4 Virginia's Waters: River Basins

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12 Virginia's Waters: River Basins 5

Potomac-Shenandoah River BasinArea: 5,747 square miles

Population: 1,482,040

Average daily flow: 7,361 mgd

Major industries: Tourism, lumber, agricul-

ture, federal government

IC--,-----8-

THE waters of the "nation'sriver" begin as two smallmountain springs. Originating

near the southwestern tip of Mary-land at the Fairfax Stone, the NorthBranch travels northeastward,forming the Maryland-West Virginiaborder. The South Branch, born inHighland County, Virginia, flows 133milesthrough West Virginia to mergewith the North Branch near Oldtown,Maryland, and form the Potomac.

The storied river touches Virginiasoil again just below its junction withthe Shenandoah, then surges out ofthe mountains, crashes over GreatFalls, skirts Washington, D.C., andmeanders southeastward until it endsits 383-mile journey at Point Lookouton the Chesapeake Bay.

About one-third of the PotomacBasin lies in Virginia, yet none of theriver flows through Virginia. Theownership of the river has been alegal issue since King Charles ofEngland made a grant in 1632 toLord Baltimore of all the land of thePotomac region to the source of theriver. Through a series of agreementsand court decisions, the boundarybetween Virginia and Maryland hasbeen fixed with the state line runningalong the Virginia side of the river.

Together with the watershed of itsmain tributary, the Shenandoah,the Potomac River Basin covers 14percent of Virginia's land area and ishome to nearly 30 percent of itspopulation.


Although the portion of the basinin the Washington, D.C., area is oneof the fastest growing areas of thenation, the Potomac and its tribu-taries are among the least developedrivers in the United States. About 94percent of the basin is forest andfarmland. Farming, and mining arevital elements in the economy of thebasin. Fruit, grain, dairy foods, andtobacco are among the principal farmproducts.

I INTENSIVE agriculture and therapid growth in the Washington

metropolitan area have takentheir toll on the basin's water quality.Sediment and industrial wastes sopolluted the river that President

13

Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965 ordereda cleanup to make the Potomac "amodel of beauty."

The Potomac was one of the firstrivers in the mid-Atlantic region to beexplored by Europeans. Nearly 40years before Captain JohnSmith's explorations in the early1600s, the Spanish Admiral PedroMenendez sailed up the Potomac tcAquia, near where Stafford is today.Both George', vashington and RobertE. Lee were born along the river.Gunston Hall, the home of GeorgeMason, father of the Bill of Rights, isalso on the river, near Lorton.

The Potomac River was named byCaptain John Smith after an Algon-quian Village that was located nearwh. t is now Washington, D.C.Because of its easy na igability anoaccess from the Chesapeake Bay,the river became the first highway tothe western frontier in the Ohio RiverValley. George Washington, amongothers, recognized the Potomac'spotential as a commercial waterway.In 1785 the river was designated acommon highway for navigation andcommerce.

The completion in 1850 of the195-mile Chesapeake and OhioCanal along the north bank of theriver boosted the economy of theregion. Coal, lumber, stone, andfoodstuffs were transported down-stream to eastern communities andports. Railroads eventually made thecanal obsolete, and today it is anational historic park.

BECAUSE of its rich history,nearness to the nation's capital,

and diverse physical characteristics,the Potomac basin supports prof-itable tourist and recreation industries.Each year, millions of tourists visitthe basin's historic monuments,battlefields, national parks, forests,and mountains.

A marsh on the Potomac nearDahlgren.

4.A

Most people associate the Potomac with Washington,D.C., or with Arlington (left) and the other denselypopulated suburbs that line the river near the nation'scapital. In reality, much of the basin is sparselypopulated a fact that two sunbathers at the GreatFalls of the Potomac (below) seem to appreciate.

14Virginia's Waters: River Basins 7

THE main tributary of thePotomac has been celebratedas the most beautiful river in

Virginia, one of the most pleasantrivers to canoe in the eastern UnitedStates and the greatest bass streamin America.

For three centuries this belovedriver and the lush valley throughwhich itflows have been called Shen-andoah, a native American word for"Daughter of the Stars." Syr, ioolizingthe historic and cultural significanceof the Great Valley beyond the BlueRidge Mountains, the name Shenan-doah is borne by towns, counties,ships, and a plaintive song.

The 150-mile-long river rises intwo main forks in western Virginia.As it flows northeastward, the riverdrains aboL. 3,000 square miles inseven counties before it joins thePotomac at Harper's Ferry, WestVirginia.

The North Fork and the South Forklie in two different sections of theShenandoah Valley and are sepa-rated by Massanutten Mountain for45 miles before joining near FrontRoyal. With the Blue Ridge Moun-tains to the east and the AlleghenyMountains to the west, the Shenan-doah flows through an area ofincredible beauty. Both fork: of theriver have some exciting white-waterrapids, but, for much of their lengths,

TheShenandoah near Harper's Ferry.

8 Virginias Waters: River Basins

1.5

the Shenandoah and its tributariesmeander peacetully around rollinghills. One segment of the North Forkmakes 29 bends and covers 50 milesin the 20-mile stretch between Edin-burg and Strasburg.

Because of its strategic locationbetween two mountain ridges and itsnorth-south orientation, the Shen-andoah Valley was a significantavenue for Indian tribes, early ex-plorers, settlers, and opposing gen-erals of the Civil War. The paths oftwo principal native American trailsare traced by Skyline Drive, whichfollows the crest of the Blue RidgeMountains through ShenandoahNational Park, and Interstate 81,which runs the length of the valley.

In the 1670s John Lederer, aGerman doctor, became the firstwhite explorer to see the ShenandoahRiver. His trips were followed by thevisits of fur traders and otherexplorers.

MOST of the settlers wereGerman and Scotch -Irish im-

migrants, who moved southwardfrom Pennsylvania in the earlyeighteenth century. Germans settledthe middle valley and established, inthe old world way, rich farms withisolated farmhouses and huge barns.Scotch -Irish immigrants moved intothe more mountainous and less fer-tile sections of the valley. Theybecame frontiersmen, hunters, andexplorers. British Virginians fromTidewater also settled in the northern

Throughout Virginia's history, theShenandoah Valley has been a richagricultural area. Apples and peaches,for which it is famous, were firstgrown commercially in the nine-teenth century. In 1983, the valley'sRockingham County led the state inagriculturil goods, producing $213million worth, including $130million in poultry.

section of the valley and retainedtheir customs and plantation farmingpractices.

Many famous Americans havecalled the Shenandoah Valley home.Woodrow Wilson, Sam Houston,Daniel Boone, Cyrus McCormick,"Grandma" Moses, and John Mar-shall were from this area of Virginia.Among other notables, JamesMadison, Robert E. Lee and "Stone-wall" Jackson lived and worked inthe valley.

The valley was a significant mil-itary corridor and constant battlefieldduring the Civil War. Battles atHarper's Ferry in 1861, the ValleyCampaign of 1862 by Jackson, thefrequent and bloody battles of 1863,and the devastating raid by Sheridanin 1864 took their toll.

One episode in 1864 was espe-cially tragic. As Union forces closedin on the Confederate positions, 274

i(3

young cadets from the VirginiaMilitary Institute valiantly tried tohold off the "Yankee invaders" atNew Market. Ten cadets and theirprofessor were killed.

Following Reconstruction, =armingin the area declined but orchards andpasturelands increased. As the millsreturned to operation and the indus-tries recovered, the old towns ex-panded into the cities of Winchester,Harrisonburg, Waynesboro, andStaunton. Eventually tt.:s urban-ization and industrialization took itstoll on the river's water quality.During the period from 1929 to 1950,a synthetic-fibers plant near Waynes-boro released mercury into thewaters. Today 102 miles of the SouthFork Shenandoah and the SouthRiver, its tributary, remain contami-nated. The ongoing harm to naturalresources from the contaminationprompted Virginia in 1983 to adopt afreshwater standard for mercury,the first state to take such action.

TOURIS.vi and ncreation haveflourished in the area during

recent years. Major attradons in-clude the Shenandoah National Park,Skyline Drive, and George Washing-ton National Forest. The river pro-vides good fishing, swimming, andsome challenging whitewater forrafting enthusiasts and canoers. Alsoof interest are a number of caves,unusual rock formations along theriver banks, and the spectacularNatural Chimneys near Bridgewater.

Virginia's Weters: River Basins 9

Twilight on the Rappahannock inLancaster County (facing page).


Rappahannock River Basin

Area: 2,848 square miles

Population: 146,360

Average daily flow: 1.826 mgd

Major industries: Agriculture, tourism,fishing

,- .-i--i7

SITUATED in northeasternVirginia, the 212-mileRappahannock River begins

in the central Virginia counties of Fau-quier and Rappahannock and flowssoutheasterlytothe Chesapeake Bay.Its river'basin drains about 7 percentof Virginia's total land area. The riveris navigable to Fredericksburg and atseveral points is seven miles wide.Major tributaries are the Rapidan,Robinson, Hazel, Thornton, and Cor-rotoman rivers, Mountain Run, andCat Point Creek.

The river was named for a tribe inthe area's powerful Powhatan IndianConfederacy. Derived from theriver's tidal ebb and flow, the wordRappahannock means "People of theAlternating Stream."

The river is linked closely to thehistory of Virginia. From the Com-monwealth's earliest time, it was animportant route for transportingwheat, corn, and other supplies fromits fertile lands upstream to coastalcommunities. During the 1600s, theregion was the main area of eco-nomic and political development inVirginia, as the settlers t uilt largetobacco plantations and establishedan aristocratic society. Small towns,warehouses and wharfs, inns andchurches were constructed along theriver to support the lucrative com-merce of tobacco trade with England.

The prosperity of the plantationsociety made Fredericksburg an eco-nomic hub. Among thetown'sfamousresidents were the families of George

1.1l

Washington and Patrick Henry.James Monroe practiced law in Fred-ericksburg and John Paul Jones hada home there.

Some 20 miles downstream fromFredericksburg, James Madison, thenation's fourth president, was bornon the banks of the Rappahannockacross from Port Royal.

During the Civil War, the Rappa-hannock served as a barrier betweenthe Union and Confederate forcesand was used to ship troops andsupplies. Some of the heaviest fight-ing of the war took place aroundFredericksburg, especially during1862 and 1863. In the Battle ofFredericksburg, General Robert E. Leedefended the city with 60,000 menagainst the Union army of 130,000.There were over 20,000 casualties.Other notable battles were at Spot-sylvania Court House, Wilderness,and Chancellorsville, where GeneralT J. (Stonewall) Jackson was killed.

TODAY, the basin remainsI primarily a rural area, with

forests covering 52 percent of theland and cropland and pasture cover-ing 35 percent. !n spite of its near-ness to Richmond and Washington,only 2 percent of the region is classi-fied as urban. Tourism, farming, andfisheries form the region's economicbase, but certain localities, particu-larly Fredericksburg and FauquierCounty, have been under going rapidcommercial development and popu-lation growth in recent years.

li

1

4

Redbud in bloom on the banks of Mill Pond in the York river Basin.


1y

York River BasinArea: 2,661 square miles

Population: 116,262


Major industries: Agriculture, lumber,paper making,federal government, elec-

tricel power, furniture, textiles,

shipbuilding, tourism.

shipping

BOUNDED by the Rappahan-nock Basin on the north andtheJames Basin on the south,

the York Basin covers about 7 percentof Virginia's land area. The basin isrural with about three-fourths of the'and forested and nearly all theremainder in cropland and pasture.

The York River is formed by themerging of the Mattapoiii andPamunkey rivers at West Point 34miles from the mouth of the river.Major tributaries of the Pamunkeyare the North Anna, South Anna, andLittle rivers. The Mattaponi is formedby four tributaries, the Mat, Ta, Po,and Ni rivers. The York was firstcalled "Pamunkee" by the Indiansbut was named York by the English in1634 in honor of Charles I, Duke ofYork.

The average width of the York isabout one-and-a-half miles. Becausethe York is a tidal river influenced byhigh seas and tidal surges, its entirelength, from the Chesapeake Bay toWest Point, is subject to tidal flooding.The greatest flood on record in thebasin occurred in August 1969 whenthe remnants of Hurricane Camilledumped eight inches of rain and theNorth Anna River near Doswell rose27 feet in seven hours. Although thebasin experienced droughts in 1966and in 1980-81, the most severedrought occurred in 1930-32.

Although no hydroelectric powergeneration occurs in the basin,steam-electric plants are located atYorktown and at the Chesapeake

Corporation's plant in West Point.Virginia Power operates a nuclearpower facility on the North Anna.

The York's deepest point, about 83feet, is at Yorktown, one of the state'sbest inland harbors. The Yorktown

The Yorktown Monument waserected in 1881 to commemoratethe colonials' victory over theBritish 100 years earlier. Yorktownis incorporated in the ColonialNational Historical Park, whichincludes nearby Williamsburg andJamestown, and Cape Henry inNorfolk

20

Harbor is significant in Americanmilitary history. In the RevolutionaryWar, Admiral de Grasse blockedCornwal lis's attempt to escape by seaand forced him to surrender to thesuperior Franco-American land forcesthat had broken through his outerdefenses at Yorktown. During WorldWar I, the American fleet wasanchored there. Today, two importantmilitary installations, Camp Pearyand the Yorktown Naval WeaponsStation, are located on the banks ofthe river.

During the colonial period, theriver was an avenue for the transportof timber, shingles, produce andtobacco, a mainstay of Virginia'seconomy at the time. Because of thisprofitable trade, a number of finemansions and large tobacco ware-houses were built along the river andits tributaries. Among these homes is3 mansion on the Pamunkey Riverthat was occupied by Martha Wash-ington during her brief marriage toher first husband, Daniel Custis.

Eight miles south of the PamunkeyRiver at Lestor Manor is a 700-acrereservation owned by the Pamunkeytribe. The reservation is all thatremains of the powerful PowhatanIndian Confederacy, which ruledover the tribes of eastern Virginiaand Maryland at the time of the firstEnglish settlement in 1607. The peacetreaty of 1640 with the PamunkeyIndians established the tradition ofbringing gifts of game to theGovernor's Mansion in Richmond.

The Mattaponies, descendants ofa tribe once ruled by the Powhatans,own a reservation two miles east ofthe Mattaponi River.

THE York River is noted for itsfishing. In colonial times, stur-

geon, shad, spot, trout, and rockfish(stripers) were abundant. Oysteringwas also a major activity. Today,fishing in the Pamunkey and its sisterriver, the Mattaponi, still yieldscatches of hickory shad, stripers,perch, and pickerel. The Mattaponi isalso a famous area for excellentwaterfowl hunting.

Virginia's Waters: R; er Basins 13

THE JAMES RIVER is oneof the longest rivers in theUnited States lying within the

boundaries of a single state. Although80 square miles in West Virginia areconsidered part of the watershed,most of the headwaters of the 340 -mile -long river are in the mountainsof western Virginia.

As the river flows southeasterlyto Hampton Roads, where it emp-ties into the Chesapeake Bay, itchanges from a turbulent moun-tain stream west of the Blue Ridgeto a sluggish tidal river below Rich-mond. The largest watershed inVirginia, the James River Basinincludes all or part of 39 countiesand 18 cities and drains one-fourthof the state's land area.

Probably no river is more deeplyrooted in the history and traditions ofthe state than the James. TheIndians of the area called the river"Powhatan" after the head of thepowerful federation of tribes. Englishsettlers named the river after KingJames I. Located along the lowerJames River were the first permanentsettlements of English-speakingpeople i n America and the birthplacesof two presidents, William HenryHarrison and John Tyler. More thana dozen colonial plantations still linethe James.

Since the founding of the firstpermanent English colony at James-town in 1607, the river has sup-ported agriculture and commerce.The first commercial canal in the


James River Basin


Population: 1,718,945


Major industries: Transportation, chemi-

cals, furniture, textiles, shipping, ship-

building, tourism ZUnited States was built on the Jamesin 1785 by the James River andKanawha Canal Company.

TODAY, major industries in theI basin include transportation;

lumbering; and the manufacture ofchemicals, furniture, textiles, andapparel. The port of Hampton Roadsat the mouth of the James is one ofthe nation's busiest. The river isnavigable from the Chesapeake Bayto the falls at Richmond and has twoinland ports: Richmond and Hopewell.

Nearly one-third of Virginia'spopulation lives within the JamesBasin and uses its water resources.Because there are numerous high-density residential and com-mercial areas along he river, thedemand for water from the James isgreat.

The James has been subject towater quality problems, including theinfamous Kepone contaminationfrom Hopewell to its mouth. Releasedfrom a chemical manufacturing oper-ation at Hopewell between 1966 and1975 Kepone severely contami-nated aquatic life and river sediments,resulting in a series of restrictions oncommercial and recreational fishing.One hundred thirteen miles of theriver are still subject to commercialfishing restrictions because of Keponecontamination.

The most damaging floods in thebasin were caused by extraordinaryrainfalls from Hurricane Camille inAugust 1969, Hurricane Agnes in

21

June 1972, and the remnants ofTropical Storm Juan in 1985.

Camille dumped an estimated 28inches of rain in one night on parts ofmountainous Nelson County. Theensuing flood killed 151, damaged200 miles of highway and 133bridges, and caused 8116 million inproperty damage in Virginia. Severalrural communities on the easternslopes of the Blue Ridge were totallydestroyed, buried under tons of mud,boulders, and uprooted trees.

THOUGH Camille was thenI thought tc be the storm of the

century, a mere three years laterAgnes caused even greater floodingalong the lower James. In the after-math of Agnes, the James in Rich-mond reached its highest level since1771, damages totaled over $37million in the Richmond area alone,and 6,000 homes were severelydamaged or destroyed.

Juan's damage was most severein the upper James Basin, whereLynchburg and Buchanan wereespecially hard hit, and in the Roa-noke River Basin. When the flood-swollen James crested at Richmond,it was nearly 31 feet above the floodstage, some five feet below the crestduring Hurricane Agnes,

The most severe drought to occurin the basin was the drought of1980-81, when streamflows at onepoint averaged 47 percent belownormal and the James dropped to itslowest level ever.

A view of the James looking upstream from the Blue Ridge Parkway.


22


23

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From a cascading stream near Peaks of Otter (below) and astream with snow-lined banks in Albemarle County (left) comeswater that feeds the James, shown on the facing page from avantage point in Charles City County looking toward Hopewell.The James is not always so serene, however. Onlookers inRichmond watched as the James carried good waters throughShockoe Bottom during the November 1985 flood.

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24 Virginia's Waters: River Basins 17

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Roanoke River Basin


Population: 597,633


Major industries: Agriculture, lumber,electrical power, tobacco, furniture,transportation

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IN the seventeenth century,this 410-mile river wasknown as the Maratuck. Today,

parts of it are known by two othernames. From its headwaters to Lees-ville, and again from Buggs Island toAlbemarle Sound, North Carolina, itis called the Roanoke. In the inter-vening stretch between Leesville andBuggs Island, the river is called theStaunton, after Captain Henry Staun-ton, a Revolutionary War soldier whocommanded a company sent to protectsettlers from Indians along that par-tic- of the river.

Recorded history of the Roanoke-Staunton basin goes back to A yearbefore settlement of the celebratedLost Colony on Roanoke Island, NorthCarolina. In the spring of 1586, En-glish explorers sent an expeditionfrom Albemarle Sound up the Roanokeas far as Weldon, North Carolina.Settlement was not made far inlandon the rives, however, until probablya century later when John Lederer, aGerman, settled in 1670 near Altavista.

Although explorers and other set-tlers ventured into the basin E.".3rLedere., a great migrat . . to theregion did not begin until the 1730s.

Mist rising from the Roanoke nearthe Blue Ridge Parkway a scenethat belies the fact that the basin isthe most developed in the statewith five major industrial centers ofwnich Roanoke-Salem is the largest.

Hoping toencuurege settlement west-ward, the Virginia Assembly at thattime promised 10 tax-free years tothose who would settle in the Roanoke-Staunton River area. The populationgrew, as settlers found productivefarming, grazing and hunting lands inthe river basin. Among the area'snotable residents was Patrick Henry,first governor of Virginia. His lasthome, Red Hill, stands on the banksof the Staunton Rver.

A S throughout the entire Virginiacolony, tobacco cultivation and

marketing played a major role in thesettlement and development of thearea, and tobacco became the region'schief money cron. After the War t:1812, the Roanoke River Valleybecame the center of the tobacco belt,and growers turned to the river asthe most practical means for trans-porting this commodity to marketsand ports.

In 1819, the Roanoke NavigationCompany, an rote- state organizationchartered by North Carolina andVirginia, began construction of aseries of canals to improve navigationon the Roanoke, Dan, and Banisterrivers. By 1834, the company hadconstructed 360 miles of canals andmade the lower Roanoke navigablefor stt. imboats in North Carolinafrom Weldon to the river's mouthat Albemarle Sound a distanceof 100 miles.

In 1882, another form of transpor-tation also bec,an to influence devel-

opment. Roanoke was selected as theterminal headquarters of the Shen-andoah Valley Railroad and the newlyreorganized Norfolk & Western Rail-way. Rail transport became the firstmajor industry in the basin.

Extensive use of the Roanoke'swater resources makes the RoanokeBasin the most developed river basinin the state today. The basin occupies15 percent of Virginia's land area andsupports several major industrial cen-ters; Roanoke-Salem, Bedford, Dan-ville, Martinsville-Henry County, andSouth Boston. Principal industries aretextiles, furniture, building materials,and apparel manufacturing. Market-able mineral resources of the basininclude ; nice, granite, coal, limestone,sand, and gravel.

The Roanoke basin is subject tosevere flooding that causes high prop-erty damages because of extensivefloodplain development. In November1985, after several days n rain hadthoroughly soaked the soil, TrnpicalStorm Juan dumped more than 6inches of rain the Roanoke Valleyin 5 hours. The result was the mostdamaging flood in the Valley's andVirginia's history. Statewide,damage was estimated at more thanS750 million. More than half thatamoL.., was recorded in RoanokeCity, Roanoke County, and Salem.

THE Floanoke River Basin is rich infish and wildlife. One wildlife

enthusiast claims that the basin hasthe richest and most unusual faunaof any East Coast river. Among thebird, mamma' and fish species thathave been proposed for federal pro-tection as endangered or threatenedspecies are the Roanoke logperchand the orangef in madtom bothfound in the North and South forks ofthe Roanoke.

Most anglers agree that the Roa-noke offers some exceptional fishing,especially the annual spring run ofspawning striped bass that maketheir way upstream to Brooknealduring April and May. The river &sooffers good sm ..mouth bass, rockbass, and trout fishing.


SOUTHWESTERN Virginia'sNew River has the distinctionof being one of the oldest riv-

ers in the world, formed even beforethe Appalachian Mountains.

Unlike most rivers in the easternseaboard states, which flow towardthe Atlantic Ocean, the New Riverflows generally northward over its320-mile length and it ultimatelyempties into the Mississippi River.

The name of the river has been asource of conjec'dre. The Indianscalled it the Kanawha, and one theorystates that German settlers gave theriver its present name by shorteningKanawha to Nawa, then New. Anothertheory holds that the river was socalled because it flowed in a "new"direction. Seventeenth-century En-glish settlers knew it as Wood'sRiver, named for Abraham Wood,whose expedition encountered theriver in 1671.

The dew's course is similar to thatof the ancient Teays River, the prin-cipal river of North America until thecoming of the ice age, when glacierscovered large portions of the TeaysValley to the north.

H UNDREDS of tiny North Carolinastreams in the Bit, Ridge and

Iron Mountains form the New River.It then flows 87 miles through Vir-ginia before entering West Virginia,where it joins the Gauley River toform the Kanawha, which eventuallyenters the Ohio, one of the principaltributaries of the Mississippi.


New River Basin


Population: 217,724


Major industries:Lumber, agriculture, elec-

trical power, coal, limestone, furniture,

textiles, chemicals

t---"---

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Virginia's portion of the New RiverBasin occupies 8 percent of the state'stotal land area, and i3 primarily rural55 percent forest and nearly 45 per-cent cropland and pasture. Althoughindustrial development encompassesless than 1 percent of the basin'sarea, the river does support severallarge industries and power-generationfacilities. Appalachian Power Companyoperates one of its largest steam-

A covered bridge spanningSinking Creek where it crossesVirginia Route 601 near Newport. Itis one of nine covered bridges leftin the state.

electric generating plants at GlenLyn near the West Virginia border.Other industries are the mining ofcoal, primary metals, and limestone,and the manufacturing of furniture,textiles, and chemicals. Water with-drawals from the river are greatestfor power generation and industrialuse, followed by public water sup-plies and agriculture.

Although tropical storms generallydo not affect the basin, the remnantsof hurricanes moving over the regioncaused large floods in 1861, 1878,1916, and 1940. The storm of 1940dropped 10 inches of rain in a 24-hourperiod and caused the greatest floodrecorded on the New River. The NewRiver Basin experienced its mostsevere drought in 1930 when rainfallaveraged 18 inches below normal forthe year and drought conditions wereclassified as extreme for nine con-secutive months.

H ISTORICALLY, the New RiverBasin remained relatively iso-

lated until a railroad was built in themid-nineteenth century. Though furtraders and land agents passedthrough the area, the populationgrew slowly and early settlementswere sparse. Among the first wereGerman and English settlementsaround what is now Blacksburg.

Relations between the settlers andnative Shawnee Indians were turbu-lent. The story of Mary Draper Ingles,dramatized in Radford's outdoor his-torical play, The Long Way Home,

fr

7

Climbers enjoy a view of the rivernear Radford. Steep cliffs carvedover millions of years mark much ofthe New's passage throughSouthwest Virginia.

colorfully illustrates thearea's pioneerconditions. Captured by Shawnees inan attack on the settlement in 1755,Ingles eventually escaped and madeher way back to present-day Blacks-burg from what is now Cincinnati.

Because many westward-boundpioneers came down the ShenandoahValley and through the New RiverValley, the route became known asthe Wilderness Trail. Much of thebasin's population is still concen-trated along what was once theWilderness Trail, which U.S. 11approximately follows today.

The area's isolation did much toshield it from the ravages of the WarBetween the States. The expansionof the railroads in the decades afterthe war opened up the basin tosettlers, travelers, and industrialists.This accessibility allowed commercialmarketing of the basin's rich mineraland forest resources and the formerlyisolated wilderness began to bedeveloped.

THENEW RIVER Basin is still

among the least populated Vir-ginia river basins, however, and thewatershed includes thousands ofacres of rugged, undeveloped terrain.The New River descends 1,000 feetas it flows through Virginia, making itone of the most challenging rivers inthe East for whitewater canoeistsand rafters. Touted as the state's bestwalled stream, the river alsoabounds with bass, muskie, crappie,bluegill, and channel cat.


Tennessee-Big Sandy River BasinArea: 4,140 square miles

Population: 319,526

Average daily flow (Tennessee): 2.966mgd

Average daily flow (Big Sandy): 877 mgd

Major industries: Coal, lumber, & j--,-'tourism

THE Tennessee and Big Sandyrivers are fed by numerousmountain streams in South-

west Virginia, but both rivers formoutside the state and eventually flowinto the Ohio River. The Tennesseeforms near Knoxville at the confluenceof the Holston arm French Broad.Principal Virginia tributaries are theClinch, Powell, and Holston rivers.The Big Sandy forms near Louisa,Kentucky, at the confluence of its twoprincipal tributaries, the Tug andLevisa forks. Virginia rivers that feedthe Big Sandy include the PoundRiver, Russell Fork, and Levisa Fork.

The mounta in tributaries that formthe Tennessee and Big Sandy flowthrough narrow valleys bordered bysteep, rugged ridges. These two riverbasins are so similar that this area inthe westernmost tip of the state iscalled the Tennessee-Big Sandyregion. It encompasses 10 percent ofVirginia's total land area.

The Tennessee Basin drains 40,910square miles in three states. Togetherthese basins drain all or portions of12 Southwest Virginia counties.

Almost half the land that the Ten-nessee drains in Virginia is forest-covered, and Virginia's portion of theBig SandyBasin is 87 percent forested.Lumbering is important to the region'seconomy, although not so much as inearlier times when rafting timber downthe rivers was one of the few ways toearn cash.

Coal deposits were noted as earlyas 1782 by Thomas Jefferson, and


today coal mining constitutes themajor economic resource of the area.In the Big Sandy Basin, BuchananCounty is the state's leading coal-producing county.

Often called the "Highlands ofSouthwest Virginia," the area'shistory is closely linked to frontiers-men who settled the forested land ofsteep ridges and rocky gorges. TheCherokee Indians first inhabited thisarea, and Indian raids and treatieslimited early white settlement.

In fact, because the area lackedfertile farmland, and high mountainsprevented easy access to tradingcenters in the eastern part of thestate, the region remained sparselysettled until after the Revolution.

Early hunters, traders, and ex-plorers traveled through this areafollowing the river valleys. DanielBoone is said to have crossed theBlue Ridge Mountains for 'he firsttime in 1760 and to have hunted inthe Holston River Valley. In the late1770s, the country was opened towhite settlements and the morefertile valley lands along the riverswere occupied by farms and smallvillages. The Holston and Clinchrivers served as natural, easilyaccessible highways and small settle-ments developed along their banks.About 1770, Evan Shelby and hisson Isaac established a store on theSouth Fork Holston. The settlementthat grew up around this enterprisebecame the border city of Bristol,Tennessee-Virginia.

During the 1780s, the first majorindustry in the area was iron smeltingto produce nails, -n importantproduct on the frontier. Nails, lum-ber, and agricultural products werefloated down the Holston to Knoxville.

In 1858, when the East Tennesseeand Virginia Railroad was completedbetween Bristol and Knoxville, therailways lessened the importance ofthe Holston River as a major traderoute. During the Civil War, the saltindustries in Virginia and easternTennessee revived the river's im-portance. Although there were nomajor campaigns in this area duringthe Civil War, both Confederate andUnion troops used the Holston andClinch rivers for transporting troopsand provisions.

A FTER the Civil War, the Wilder-ness Road that led through the

Clinch Valley to Cumberland Gapremained a major American thorough-fare to western land. However, it wasnot until the late nineteenth century,when railroads were built into remoteareas of Appalachia to carry out thecoal, that the Tennessee-Big Sandyregion of Virginia began to develop.

Big Stone Gap on the Powell Rivertypifies mining towns that came intoexistence as the result of exploitationof the area's mineral resources.Established by John D. Inboden, aformer Confederate general, BigStone Gap prospered until thedepression of the early 1890s.

The people of this area are vividlydescribed in the 1908 novel, TheTrail of the Lonesome Pine by JohnFox, Jr., of Big Stone Gap. The booktells the story of a young engineer'slove for a mountain girl and the feudof the Tolliver and Falin clans.

The waters of this region were ofgreat value to the people settling thearea, and they also learned to respectthe rivers, because floods are fre-quent and often severe in the steepterrain of this region.

The most recent major floodingwas caused by a 4-day storm in April1977 which dropped from 5 to 15inches of rain and caused record

.

39

floods. Major rivers crested atheights of 15 to 20 feet above floodlevel. The torrential rain causedextensive mudslides and the ragingwater destroyed or damaged 5,000homes, 515 small businesses, 89bridges, and miles of highways.Twelve southwestern counties andthe City of Norton were designated afederal disaster area. Damage wasestimated at over $237 million.

Although the waters in the area ofthe Tennessee-Big Sandy generallyare clean, 81 miles of the North ForkHolston are contaminated by mercuryreleased from an industrial operationnear Saltville. Acid mine drainageand sedimentation from erosion ofmined areas are problems in some ofthe small streams in the area.

Virginia's Tennessee-Big Sandy areacontains no large urban centers. Thislad( of development allows vacationersto enjoy thick forests, mountain ter-rain, and productive water, whereanglersfish for largemouth and small-mouth bass, sunfish, walleye, andcrappie. The state's highest point,Mt. Rogers 5,729 feet above sealevel is part of the Mt. RogersNational Recreation Area in the Jef-ferson National Forest.

THE South Holston Reservoir,1 North Fork of Pound Lake, John

W. Flannagan Reservoir, and Scott-Wise Lako provide recreationalopportunities as do the small lakesfound in Hungry Mother State Park,Clinch Mountain Wildlife Manage-ment area, and Hidden Valley.

Natural area preserves are locatedthroughout the region. Mountainwaterfalls are plentiful and scenic,such as Abrams Falls near Bristol. Ofspecial note is the Breaks section ofRussell Fork, known as the GrandCanyon of the East and part of theBreaks Interstate Park on the Ken-tucky border.

Water skier on South Holston Lake,Wasnington County (above). Coalprocessing plant on Levisa Fork,Buchanan County (below).



Chowan River Basin

Area: 3.558 square miles

Population: 150,377


Major industries: Agriculture, lumber.tobacco, meat packing, paper making

_5-{-'----'

THE CHOWAN RIVER has beencalled Virginia's "interstate"river because a major portion

of the basin is located in Virginia, butthe river forms on the Virginia-NorthCarolina Wundary and flows intoAlbemarle Sound in North Carolina.

Virginia's portion of the ChowanRiver Basin is located in the south-eastern part of the state, and it drains10 percent of the state's land area.The basin's terrain includes therolling hills of the Piedmont and theflatlands of the Coastal Plaih.

The Chowan's three main Virginiatributaries are the Blackwater, Not-toway, and Meherrin rivers. TheNottoway and Blackwater join at theVirginia-North Carolina state line toform the Chowan. The MeherrinRiver joins the Chowan 12 milesdownstream. Largely rural, theChowan Basin is 67 percent forestedand 25 percent cropland and pasture.

The Blackwater River originatesjust south of Petersburg in PrinceGeorge County and flows southeast-erly for 105 miles before it meets theNottoway River. The Blackwater isnamed for its color, which is theresult of tannic acid it receives as itpasses through swamps and forests.

The Blackwater also flows throughproductive agricultural lands wheretobacco, peanuts, and soybeans arethe main field crops. The area is wellknown for hog production and meat-packing. Smithfield hams are afamous Virginia product. Lumberand other wood products also are

31.

important to the econcmy of thearea. A large paper mill is located inFranklin on the Blackwater.

The Blackwater River Basin hasmany points of interest and some ofVirginia's oldest settlements. Smith'sFort in Surry County was built in1609, and other settlements in thebasin date back to 1613. What is saidto be the oldest brick building inEnglish America, St. Luke's Churchin Smithfield, was built in 1632.

The Nottoway River rises in Lunen-burg County and drains the centralportion of the Chowan River Basin asit flows southeasterly for 155 milesbefore joining the Blackwater River.The Nottoway derives its name froman Indian word for "rattlesnake."Much of the land bordering the riveris forested, but there are large areasof farmland in the basin.

Agriculture and forestry are themainstays of the economy along theNottoway. The river basin containsextensive swamp and old hardwoodforests. Wooded swamp areas provideexcellent spawning habitat for fish.Bluegill, pickerel, crappie, large-mouth and smallmouth bass, rockbass and white perch can be found inthe Nottoway. This pristine wildlifehabitat is of great value and about 33miles of the Nottoway in SussexCounty are included in the VirginiaScenic River System.

The Meherrin River also rises inLunenburg County and flows south-easterly, crossing the Vii- fa -NorthCarolina border five times before

emptying into the Chowan River. AnIndian word meaning "an island" isthe source of the Meherrin's name.

Like the Blackwater and Nottoway,the Meherrin basin contains richforests and agricultural lands. Thebasin is largely rural with no largeindustries. Only two population cen-ters, Emporia and Lawrenceville, arelocated on the river. Founded in 1888,St. Paul's College in Lawrenceville isthe third oldest historically blackvocational and industrial school in theUnited States.

The Chowan River is named for theChowanoke Indian tribe and means"southern people." The Chowan is aslow-moving river with a meandering145-mile path through flat terrainthat encourages swampy conditions.

Its slow movement allows wastesand sediments to accumulate in thebasin's stream channels. Excessivegrowth of algae, attributed to highlevels of nitrogen and phosphorus,has been a persistent water qualityproblem in the Chowan. The firstmajor algae bloom appeared in theChowan in 1972, and blooms haveappeared periodically since then. TheChowan floods infrequently, but windtides affect the entire river.

The waters in the Chowan RiverBasin offer great opportunities forrecreation. In addition to the wilder-ness areas of cypress swamps andscenic forests, the Nottoway andBlackwater rivers are noted fishingstreams and some sections are usedfor white-water canoeing.

32

The slow-moving Blackwater flowsthrough the Otterdam Swamp onits way to the North Carolinaborder, where it joins with theNottoway to form the Chowan.


THE Coastal River Basins includea number of rivers and streamsthat are short in length and

have small drainage areas comparedto Virginia's eight major river basinsystems. Most of these Coastal Plainrivers are bordered by marshlands andflow into the Chesapeake Bay. Tidesand wind-driven currents push waterfrom the bay up into these coastalrivers, mixing salt water and freshwater and distributing nutrientsthroughout the estuarine system. Vir-ginia's Tidewater region gets its namefrom the twice-daily tidal rise andfall of these watercourses.

Much of the drainage area is onlya few feet above sea level and mostof the land is either marsh, farm, orforest. The area is defined by fivepeninsulas. The western shore of theChesapeake Bay consists of fourpeninsulas: the Northern Neck, whichis between the Potomac and Rap-pannock rivers; the Middle Penin-sula, between the Rappahannock andYork rivers; the Williamsburg Penin-sula, between the York and Jamesrivers; and the Norfolk Peninsula,between the James River and theAtlantic Ocean. The fifth peninsula,known as the Eastern Shore, isactually the southern portion of theDelmarva Peninsula, which com-prises nearly all of Delaware andparts of Maryland and Virginia.

Large rivers flowing into the Ches-apeake Bayfrom the mainland penin-sulas are the Great Wicomico Riveron the Northern Neck, the Piankatank


Coastal River BasinsArea: 2,106 square miles

Population: 598,343

Average daily flow: no data

Major industries: Commercial fishing,shipping, truck farming, brick and ,

fertilizer manufacturing, \_f...ipoultry, tourism,

federal government ---..-__._- ,7

and North rivers on the Middle Penin-sula, the Poquoson River on theWilliamsburg Peninsula, and theLynnhaven River on the NorfolkPeninsula.

On the Eastern Shore, the ?oco-moke River and Pungoteague, Occo-hannock, N; ssawadox, and othercreeks flow into the bay. TheMachipongo River on the easternpart of the Delmarva Peninsula is theonly river that flows directly fromVirginia into, the Atlantic Ocean,

The Coastal River Basins, whichmake up 4 percent of Virginia's totalland area, include all of Accomack,Northampton, and Mathews countiesandthe City of Poquoson; and portionsof Northumberland, Lancaster, Mid-dlesex, Gloucester, and York countiesand the cities of Norfolk, VirginiaBeach, Hampton, and Newport News.The region also includes 18 barrierislands on the Atlantic side of theDelmarva Peninsula.

ONE of the results of the searchfor a northwestern passage to

Cathay by iixteenth-century explorerswas the discovery of Virginia'sEastern Shore. The first European toset foot there was Giovanni deVerrazano in 1524. As he looked outonto Chesapeake Bay, he was confi-dent that he was seeing the westernsea, an error perpetuated by mapmakers until the Spanish explorersDeSoto and Coronado proved theexistence of land from Florida toCalifornia.

33

Settlement of the barrier islandsand the Eastern Shore by Europeancolonists did not occur until 1614.The entire peninsula was then calledAccomack from the Algonquin Indianname, Acchwmake, "the land beyondthe water." Accomack was one ofthe eight original counties of Virginia.It was along Pungoteague Creek thatAnthony Johnson, a freed slave,became the first black landowner inAmerica in the 1620s. The publicrecords of the area are the oldest inAmerica, dating back to 1632.

The New World's first public utility,a ferryboat to carry citizens acrossthe tidal rivers from principal settle-ments to outlying plantations, wasestablished in the Tidewater area in1638. The first play produced inColonial America was presented inPungoteague in 1665.

Many of the counties and citieswithin the Coastal River Basins havehistoric homes, churches, and battle-fields from the Revolutionary War,the War of 1812, and the Civil War.

Important industries in the CoastalRiver Basins include commercialfishing, shipping, truck farming,(especially potatoes, early vegetables,soybeans, corn, and hay), manufac-turing of fertilizers from fish, brickmanufacturing, and lumber products.Livestock, poultry, and seafood pro-ducts are important contributors tothe economy of the basin. Militaryinstallations are a major presence inthis area.

Tourism at numerous historic sites

34

American egret in the Chinco-teague National Wildlife Refuge(upper left). Marsh grass nearBrownsville, Northampton County(upper right). Piankatank River atsunset (left). Elizabeth River (above).


and recreation areas are also majorcontrioutors to the economy of thisregion. Chincoteague, Virginia'slargest island, is famous for theannual July roundup of the wildponies that have lived on the islandsince the seventeenth century.

No discussion of the Coastal RiverBasins would be complete withoutmention of their highly productivemarshes, which are among theworld's richest ecosystems. Almost90 percent of all the finfish andshellfish harvested by the EasternShore's seafood industry depend oncoastal wetlands during at least partof their lives. These marshes providefeeding, nesting, and resting areasfor over 275 species of birds, in-cluding great numbers of waterfowland shorebirds. The marshes alsoprovide pollution control by treatingand assimilating excess nutrients andserve to control flooding by absorbinglarge amounts of water.

Protecting the marshes and shallowbays along the Atlantic side of theEastern Shore is the nation's largestchain of undeveloped barrier islands.These islands, which parallel thecoastline, are low and sandy withextensive tidal flats. They buffer theforces of winds, waves, and stormsurges, thereby preserving the richmarshlands that separate the islandsfrom the Eastern Shore. The Virginiabarrier islands are largely managedby the Nature Conservancy and theU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service aswildlife refuges, providing a corridorof more than 45,000 acres of diversecoastal habitats.


Surf at sunrise, Hog Island

35

"Pentaquod leaned forward withhis paddle across his knees, contentto allow his yellow canoe to driftquietly info the bay, and with eachlength that the log moved forwardhe saw some new revelation: theimmensity of this water, the waythe fish jumped as if they wereeager to be caught and tasted, theconstant movement of birds backand forth, the majestic trees liningthe shore, and over all, the archingsky more blue than any he hadseen before."

James A. MichenerChesapeake

WITH about 4,400 squaremiles of water surface, theChesapeake Bay is the

largest of more than 800 estuaries inthe United States and the largestbody of water along the AtlanticCoast. It is some 200 miles long andranges in width from 4 to 30 miles.

Of the 50 major rivers that feed thebay, five the Susquehanna, James,York, Rappahannock, and Potomacsupply nearly 90 percent of the freshwater thatflows into the bay. Drainingmore than 64,000 square miles inVirginia, West Virginia, Maryland,Delaware, the District of Columbia,Pennsylvania, and New York, the bayholds an estimated 18 trillion gallonsof water. Despite this enorrnousamount of water, the bay is relativelyshallow. Its average depth is lessthan 30 feet.

Thousands of years of geologicchange have created the bay'sphysical characteristics. The land-

Bqys

scape of the Chesapeake Bay regionhas been influenced by the repeatedsouthward advance and northwardretreat of massive glaciers. When thelast major glacial period ended about2,000 years ago, the melting iceraised the level of the sea along theAtlantic Coast. As the climate warmedover a period of thousands of years,broad expanses of the ancientSusquehanna River Valley and manyof the river's tributaries were flooded.This flooded, interconnected systemof streambeds and river channelsnow forms the floor of the Chesa-peake Bay and adjacent tidal rivers.

The bay was named by the Algon-quin Indians, who called it "Ches-epioc," which means "Great Shell-fish Bay."

Captain John Smith, who firstexplored the Bay in 1608 in prep-aration for English colonization,

Infrared photo of Chesapeake Bay.

praised it as a paradise of abundantfish and fowl. Nearly four centuricslater, the bay is still highly productive.Its major commercial seafood re-sources include softshelled crab, bluecrab, oyster, clam, menhaden, androckfish. The world's largest supplierof blue crab, the bay produces about55 million pounds annually. Only theproduction of the Atlantic and Paciiicoceans exceeds the bay's commercialfishery catch of more than $100million annually.

Major industrial activities in thehay area are manufacturing, mining,shipbuilding, power generation,petroleum refining, chemical pro-duction, and meat, seafood andvegetable processing. The Chesa-peake itself is a major commercialwaterway that annually handlesnearly 50,000 trips by commercialvessels carrying 90 million tons ofcargo. Two of the five major U.S. EastCoast ports are situated on the bay.

The port of Hampton Roads, whichincludes marine terminals at Ports-mouth, Norfolk, Chesapeake, andNewport News, is located at the bay'smouth. In 1982, Hampton Roadswas the largest export port in thenation; coal was the largest exportcommodity, and crude petroleum thelargest import product. Other majorproducts included grain, tobacco,lumber, and chemicals.

Located at the northern end of thebay, the port of Baltimore handlesalmost one-fourth of the East Coast'sexports. The bay also provides accessto Virginia's river ports of Hopewell,Richmond, and Alexandria.

Virginia's Waters: Bays 29

A MONG the Chesapeake's most.Mvaluable contributions is itsfunction as a supportive naturalhabitat for wildlife. Located withinthe bay region are 20 propertiesdesignated as national refuges orrelated properties. The bay's richlyvegetated marshlands, combined withthe productive waters of the tidalrivers, provide excellent wildlifehabitat. More than 2,700 species ofplants and animals, including 200species of fish, are found in thewaters and along the shore of theChesapeake Bay.

Migratory birds use the bay andsurrounding wetlands as a stop alongthe Atlantic Flyway. An estimated500,000 Canada geese and morethan 40,000 whistling swans winterin the bay area.

Among the multitude of birds thatnest around the bay are black duck,wood duck, blue-winged teal, andthe endangered bald eagle. Thelargest population of ospreys in theUnited States is located in the Ches-apeake. Other birds found in the areainclude owls, gulls, hawks, herons,egrets, songbirds, and such gamebirds as wild turkey, quail, woodcock,dove, and pheasant.

The abundance of food and veg-etation in lands adjacent to the bayprovides ideal habitat for numbers ofdeer, fox, rabbit, squirrel, opossum,beaver, otter, mink and muskrat.

The bay also serves as a nurseryand habitat for a number of finfish,many of which spawn in tributariesand areas of low salinity in the upperportion of the bay base, shad,

30 Virginia's Waters: Bays

The Chesapeake Bay seems to be everybody's favorite body of water,forcing government to walk a tightrope as it seeks to balance competingdemands. For s9me, the bay is the avenue to Hampton Roads andBaltimore, two tithe nation's busiest ports. Others follow a distinctivelifestyle while harvesting its finfish and shellfish. For an untold number ofAmericans, the bay is a watery playground offering sailing, swimming, sportfishing, bird watching, bird hunting, and other recreational pursuits.

Edward Born

37

croaker, herring, menhaden, king-fish, and white perch. The bay is theprimary East Coast spawning areafor striped bass, a commerciallyimportant fish whose population hasseriously declined in recent years.

One reason for the area's highbiological productivity is the 425,000acres of marshland that fringe theChesapeake Bay and its tributaries.More than half of these wetlands arein Virginia. Forming a natural boun-dary between land and water, thesetransitional areas contain salt waterfrom the bay's tides and fresh waterfrom groundwater seepage, streams,and rain. The marshes support anabundance of plant life, includingwild rice, cattails, cordgrass, andneedier ush. At least 10 species ofbay grasses thrive here.

With the many miles of tidalshoreline along the Chesapeake Bay,Atlantic Coast, and adjacent estuariesand rivers, this part of Virginia ispopular for its many recreationalattractions. Water-based activitiesaccount for &mut half of the rec-reational time spent by Virginians,and the bay region offers ampleopportunities for fishing, swimming,sunbathing, boating, camping, andhunting.

Since John Smith first exploredthe Chesapeake Bay area it hasbecome a primary growth centeralong the eastern seaboard The firstsettlers were attracted by the suit-ability of the region's soil and climatefor tobacco cultivation. Later, thefounding of the nation's capital anddevelopment of major manufacturing

and transportation centers spurredpopulation growth. By 1980, nearly8.5 million people lived in the bayregion.

Increased commercial, industrial,recreational, and urban activitiesthroughout the Chesapeake water-shed have put intense pressures onthe bay's ecosystem, polluting thewater and destroying wetlands. Theeffects of human activities and theconflicting demands on the bay'sresources led Congress in 1976 toinitiate the Chesapeake Bay Programto assess the bay's health and tomake recommendations for improvingwater quality, and preserving livingresources.

Although the bay and its tidaltributaries have remained productivein spite of the stresses inflicted byman, the future health and produc-tivity of these waters and wetlandswill be determined by how wisely theresources of the entire Chesapeakewatershed are managed.

3S

BACK BAY, a shallow, 25,000 -acre coastal water body inthe southern part of the City

of Virginia Beach, is separated fromthe Atlantic Ocean by a narrow barrierbeach. Averaging only4 feet in depth,the bay is is dotted with small islandsand surrounded by extensive brackishand freshwater marshes.

Back Bay is the northern arm of ahuge estuarine system that includesCurrituck, Albemarle, and Pamlicosounds in North Carolina. Back Bayand Curntuck Sound receive drainagefrom Virginia Beach and Chesapeakevia the Northwest River, the NorthLanding River, and many small creeks.

The southern end of the bay istidally influenced and has brackishwater. The northernmost part of BackBay is a freshwater system, but theCity of Virginia Beach pumps saltwater from the Atlantic across thebeach into this part of the bay toincrease the bay's salinity and controlmilfoil, an undesirable aquatic grass.

Attracted by the enormous flocksof waterfowl that winter in Back Bay,sportsmen built a number of huntingclubs around the bay in the latenineteenth century. Commercial water-fowl hunting and destruction of wet-lands in the ensuing decades led to a

Virginia's Waters: Bays 31

Back Bay is both a birder's and fisherman's paradise.

sharp decline in waterfowl popu-lations.

Since 1938, the U.S. Fish andWildlife Service has protected 4.6miles of beachfront just south ofSandbridge and the marshlands andbay waters to the west as the BackBay National Wildlife Refuge. Theremaining 5.6 miles of beach betweenthe refuge and the North Carolinaborder make up False Cape StatePark, a limited-access recreational

32 Virginia's Waters: Bays

area. The Commission of Game andInland Fisheries also maintains threewildlife management areas for water-fowl hunting and fishing in Back Bay.The entire Back Bay-False CapeNatural Area comprises an 8,900-

acre coastal wilderness of beaches,dunes, shrub thickets, w Hands, andopen water.

Back Bay, known as a "birder'sparadise," is an important feedingarea for tens of thousands of birds

3D

that migrate along the Atlantic Fly-way between Canada and Florida. Itserves as the winter home of largenumbers of ducks, geese, and swans.The bay is considered one of the bestareas on the East Coast for large-mouth bass fishing, and its shallowwaters also support crappie, pike,pickerel, perch, and catfish. Biologistshave counted more than 40 reptile,30 amphibian, and 200 plant speciesin this ecologically rich area.

VIRGINIA has more than254,000 acres of publiclyowned lakes and reservoirs,

and an estimated 68,000 acres ofprivately owned farm ponds andlakes. Only two of the Common-wealth's lakes are not man-made:Lake Drummond in the GreatDismal Swamp and Mountain Lakei.-i Giles County.

Natural Lakes

Mountain Lake is one mile long,about a fifth-of-a-mile wide, and150 feet deep. Located in theAppalachian Mountains at an ele-vation of 3,875 feet, MountainLake is nearly 1,000 feet above mostof the surrounding ridges and morethan 2,000feet above the New River,located 6 miles from the lake.

Because of the 60-acre lake's highelevation and dramatic fluctuationsin its water level throughout recordedhistory, the lake's origin and thesource of its water have been sub-jects of controversy. Large boulde-sof sandstone resting on a formationof shale at the north end of the lakeare believed to have dammed up astream that once flowed through thenarrow valley to form the lake.

Today, no streams flow into thelake, but it is fed by precipitation andseveral springs on the lake's bottom.Water seeps through the lake's boul-der dam into Pond Drain, whichflows into Little Stony Creek thendescends two spectacular waterfalls

the 20-foot Little Cascades andthe 70-foot Cascades and entersthe New River.

Lakes

The recorded history of MountainLake dates back to 1751, when Chris-topher Gist discovered the lake whilehe was exploring and mapping thearea for the Ohio Land Company.Various eighteenth- and nineteenth-century accounts reported that thelake had dried up and cattle weredriven there for the salt licks. In fact,until the late 1880s the lake wasknown as Salt Pond. Scientistsbelieve that a period of prolongeddrought between 1751 al.d 1805could have caused an extremely lowwater level that allowed trees togrow on what is now the lake bottom.As the lake refilled, these trees wereimmersed and died. In the early1900s, the trees were cut to preventdamage to boats, but the stumps arestill visible today.

The first owner of the Mo "ntainLake area was John Chapman, whosettled at the mouth of Walker'sCreek in 1768. The lake and itsenvirons became a private resort in1856 and a clapboard hotel wasconstructed. Cottages were builtaround the lake in 1931, and thehotel was replaced in 1936 by oneconstructed cf stone from a nearbyquarry. The resort is now a popularvacation site for those who enjoytennis, horseback riding, boating,fishing, and hiking in the relativelyi5olated area. An 11,000-acre spruceand hemlock forest adjacent to thelake was designated a wildernessarea by Congress in 1984.

Lake Drummond, Virginia's othernatural lake, is 'ised for recreationand also serves as a source of water

4 .J

to maintain the level of the GreetDismal Swamp Canal, which is partof the Atlantic Intracoastal Water-way. The canal is the oldest survivingartificial waterwa, in the UnitedStates. The lake is located in thecenter of the Great Dismal Swamp,50,000 acres of which have beendesignated a national wildlife refuge.

L-ke Drummond is more than twomiles wide and nearly three mileslong, covering 3,180 acres. It wasdiscovered by William Drummond,North Carolina's first governor,1665. The processes by which theshallow lake formed are uncertain,but it is believed to have originatedabout 4,000 years ago.

The Great Dismal Swamp sur-rounding Lake Drummond beganfcrming along streams in the areaabout 12,000 years ago at the end ofthe last glacial period. As the climatewarmed and the great continentalice sheets melted, the sea level roseand the swamp was enlarged,reaching full development approx-imately 3,000 years ago.

Some scientists believe the swamponce covered 1,400,000 acres. Whenthe swamp was first accuratelymapped in 1890, it had an area of960,000 acres. Over the years,thousands of acres have been clearedof trees and drained for cultivation.Lake Drummond was 15 feet deepbefore commercial orations beganto drain the swamp with canals andremove timber. The lake is raw onlysix feet deep at the center

A number of famous Virginiansplayed an importers role in the

Virginia's Waters: Lakes 33

I

Virginia's Lakes and Reservoirs1. John W. Flannagan Reservoir

2. South Holston Lake3. Claytor Lake4. Philpott Reservoir

5. Smith Mountain Lake6. Lake Moomaw7. Lake Anna

8. Buggs Island Lake (Kerr Reservoir)9. Lake Gaston

10. Lake Drummond

11. Mountain Lake

1

2

311

4

5

6

89

7

10

history and development of thisregion. William Byrd surveyed thearea in 1728 and gave the GreatDismal Swamp its name. 'n 1765,George Washington organized acompany to build the first canal inthe swamp to aid in lumberingoperations.

Several decades later, PatrickHenry promoted the plan to build a22-mile canal through the swamp toconnect the Chesapeake Bay withAlbemarle Sound in North Carolina.The Great Dismal Swamp Canal waschartered by the Virginia Assemblyin 1787 and was opened to largevessels by 1814. The canal remainedprivately owned until 1929, whenthe federal government purchased itand the U.S. Army Corps of Engineerstook over its operation. The canal isnow the major water route into theGreat Dismal Swamp National Wild-life Refuge.

The swamp is one of the fewremaining large areas of wetlandwilderness in the eastern UnitedStates. At least 35 different kinds oftrees, incluaing cypress, juniper, redmaple, and wild cherry grow in theswamp. About 75 species of birdsinhabit the area.

Reservoirs

Virginia has hundreds of man-

34 Virginia's Waters: Lakes

made lakes and ponds that werecreated by damming creeks andrivers. The Roanoke River supportsthe largest number of major impound-ments, with four man-made reser-voirs that cover a total of 93,700acres in Virginia and North Carolina.Buggs Island Lake (known asJohn H.Kerr Reservoir in North Carolina) isthe Commonwealth's largest reser-voir, although the lake does not lieentirely in Virginia. The largest lakewholly in the state is Smith MountainLake.

The watershed protection programof the U.S. Department of Agricul-ture's Soil Conservation Service hasconstructed reservoirs that impound3,600 acres in the Commonwealth tocontrol flooding and reduce soil

Harrison Lake, Charles CityCounty.

a

41

erosion. The U.S. Army Corps ofEngineers also operates four Virginiareservoirs that were constructedspecifically for flood control: Flannagan, Moomaw, Buggs Island, andPhitpott. South Holston Lake wasbuilt and is operated ty the Ten-nessee Valley Authority for floodcontrol and power generation.

The principal reasons for the con-struction of other major Virginia reser-voirs are (1) generation of hydro-electric power Claytor, SmithMountain, and Lr-sesville (AppalachianPower Company) and Gaston (Vir-ginia Power); (2) drinking water sup-ply Chesdin (Appomatox RiverWater Authority) and Occoquan (Fair-fax County Water Authority); and (3)source of cooling water for nuclearpower plant North Anna (VirginiaPower). Virginia's reservoirs alsoserve beneficial purposes other thantheir primary ones: they often helpmaintain stream water quality, regu-late low flows, serve as recreationareas, and provide wildlife habitat. Ofcourse, reservoir construction canhave significant environmental im-pacts such as inundation of scenic,agricultural, or residential areas anddisturbance of ecosystems. Hence,the costs and benefits of anyproposed reservoirs must be carefullyevaluated.

Groundwater

MORE than 50 spas withmineral or thermalsprings once flourished

in Virginia, mainly in the valleysand ridges west of the Blue RidgeMountains. During their heyday inthe nineteenth century, thesesprings were the summertimehealth and social centers of theCommonwealth. Visitors camefrom as far away as Eurcpe tobathe in, drink, and rub them-selves with the "healing waters"that flowed from these springs.

Touted as a treatment for almostevery known ailment from indiges-tion to yellow fever, the mineralsprings contain varying amountsof sulfur, sodium, calcium, mag-nesium, and iron. The thermalsprings, at spas like Hot Springsand Warm Springs, are naturallyheated deep within the earth totemperatures between 60 and 110degrees Fahrenheit.

Only a handful of Virgin as

remains today, but towns E nu Jm-munities in the springs r agion ofVirginia still bear such n 3mes asAugusta Springs, AlleghenySprings, Sweet Chalybeate Springs,Orkney Springs, Healing Springs,Rockbridge Baths, and Yellow Sul-phur Springs.

Groundwater, the natural re-source that made Virginia's historicspas prosperous, is also respon-sible for the state's many cavesand caverns. Carbonic acid, natu-rally present in groundwater, hashollowed out great limestone cavesover thousands of years.

Nine caverns in Virginia, all westof the Blue Ridge, are open to thepublic. Scores of other cavernsdraw cave explorers to the westernpart of the state to investigatecomplex passageways, under-ground streams, rare bats, fossils,and exquisite rock formations.

The groundwater that createsthese natural wonders has beenan essential resource for Virginiansthroughout history and is criticalfcr the Commonwealth's future.

Historians believe the first set-tlers at Jamestown relied ongroundwater from shallow wellsas their main water source. Thecolonists are said to have preferredthe "sweet water" from the groundto the foul-tasting water from thebrackish James River.

TODAY, about 400 million gallons1 of groundwater are withdrawn

daily in the state for domestic andcommercial use, industry, and irrigation. Major industrial uses includethe processing of food, stone, andclay, and the manufacture of con-crete, textiles, wood products, paperand chemicals.

Excluding the Ir-ge amounts ofsurface water used to cool thermo-electric power plants, 31 percent ofthe fresh water used in Virginia isgroundwater. About 80 percent of all

irginians use groundwater for atleast part of their everyday waterneeds, including approximately 1.5million state residents who obtaintheir domestic water supplies solelyfrom private wells or springs.

% a 42

Wham exactly is groundwater andwhere does it come from? Simplystated, groundwater is surface waterthat has seeped into the ground andhas saturated earth and rock for-mations. A geologic formation thatcontains and transmits enoughgroundwater to supply wells andsprings is an aquifer.

GROUNDWATER is one of thestages in the earth's hydrologic

(water) cycle. In this cycle, waterevaporates from the oceans and theland surface, then forms clouds andfalls back to earth as precipitation.Some rainwater and snowmelt runsoff into streams, but much soaks intothe soil and seeps many feet under-ground to become groundwater. Thisprocess through which water perco-lates down from the earth's surfaceinto aquifers is called recharge.

As shown by the hydrologic cycle,groundwater and surface water areclosely connected. Surface wateroften becomes groundwater andgroundwater often becomes surfacewater. Groundwater naturally appearsat the earth's surface as springs. Italso seeps into lakes, streams, andwetlands. In fact, 30 percent of thetotal streamflow in the United Statescomes from groundwater. During adrought, groundwater may be theonly source of water for streams.Likewise, surface water from lakesand streams may seep undergroundand become groundwater. Surpris-ingly, far more fresh water occursunderground than in all the world'slakes, streams, and rivers.

Virginia's Waters: Groundwater 35

VIRGINIA has five physiographicprovinces, regions of character-

istic geologic structure and climate:Cumberland Plateau, Valley andRidge, Blue Ridge, Piedmont, andCoastal Plain. The terrain, soils,vegetation, and wildlife vary fromone province to another. Less obviousto the casual observer, but just asdistinct, are groundwater character-istics of each region. The naturalquality and quantity of groundwaterin each physiographic provincedepend on such properties as geologyand rainfall. Human activities, suchas land use, waste disposal, ground-water withdrawal, and irrigation, alsohave a profound impact on ground-water resources.

Cumberland Plateau

Portions of seven southwesternVirginia counties lie in the Cumber-land (Appalachian) Plateau province.This hilly, sparsely populated regionis made up of sedimentary rockssandstone, shale, and coal thatusually yield only small quantities ofgroundwater to wells. Groundwaterquality in this area is often poorbecause of high iron or manganesecontent or acidity.

In addition to these natural ground-water quality problems, acid drainagefrom coal mines may contaminategroundwater and make it unsuitablefor household use. Highly acidic watercan corrode plumbing and leach toxicmetals into drinking water, creating aserious health hazard.

Despite low well yields and waterquality problems, localities in theCumberland Plateau depend heavilyon groundwater for coal processingand domestic use.

Valley and Ridge

Long, .arallel mountain ridgesseparated by valleys are characteristicof the Valley and Ridge province,which stretches more than 300 miles

A once-flourishing resort atYellow Sulphur Springs.

36 Virginia's Waters: Groundwater

from Winchester to Bristol. Limestoneand dolomite aquifers in the val'eystypically yield large amounts of water.Wens and springs yielding hundredsof gallons per minute are notuncommon. The water from theseaquifers is often hard and requiressoftening for household use.

The connections between surfacewater and groundwater are mostevident in the Valley and Ridge'slimestone-floored valleys. Ground-water naturally comes to the earth'ssurface at hundreds of springs in theprovince, and these springs arefrequently used for domestic watersupp!ies. Weak natural acids in thegroundwater dissolve limestone toform caves, channels, and sinkholes.

Groundwater in this region is

extremely vulnerable to contami-nation because contaminated surfacewater often flows directly into theground through limestone sinkholes.Ironically, sinkholes traditionallyhave been used as garbage dumps.

Blue Ridge

Virginia's highest mountain peaksare in the narrow Blue Ridge province.The region is a center for tourism andsuch outdoor recreational activitiesas hiking, hang gliding, fishing, skiing,and hunting. Much of the land in theBlue Ridge is owned or managed bythe federal government.

The eastern flank of the Blue Ridgeis composed of crystalline rocks suchas granite and gneiss, while thewestern flank is made up of sedimen-

I

Virginia's Physiographic Provinces

1111 Cumberland Plateau

is Valley and Ridge

DBlue Ridge

IPiedmont

0

tary rocks like the neighboring Valleyand Ridge province. Wells and manysmall springs in the Blue Ridge yieldlow volumes of groundwater, gen-erally of good quality but, in somecases, requiring treatment to removeiron. The principal groundwater useis for private domestic supplies.

Piedmont

The Piedmont province is borderedon the west by the Blue Rid3e Moun-tains, hence the name "Piedmont,"which merns lying at the foot ofmour'.ains. Within this province,whir 's made up ma iolyof crystallinerock the qualtity and quality ofgroundwater are widely val.:able.Adequate si !polies of potable ground-water for homes and farms canusually befoundwithin a few hundredfeet of the s irface. In most Piedmontcounties, g:oundwater accounts for50 to 90 percent of total water use.

Well yields in the Piedmont com-monly ra .ge from 3 to 20 gallons arrfnute; yields greater,thar, 50 gallonsa minute are exceptional. Largeryields maybe obtained around exten-sive, fracture and fault systems.

Coastal Plain

The Coastal Plain is bordered onthe Last by Chesapeake Bay and the

Atlantic Ocean and on the west bythe "fall line," an imaginary linerunning from Alexandria throughEmporia that mar's the limit of tidalinfluence on Virginia's rivers andstreams and, or the larger ;ivers, thelimit of navigability by ocean-goingtrading soips. Many of Virgin,a'cearliest commercial centers, mostnotably Alexandria, Richmond, andFredericksbu, 3, wei a located on thofall line.

Today, nearly half of the state'sgroundwater use is in the populousCoastal Plain province, where largewells help supply the needs ofindustry and major public waterworks.

More groundwater is used for cropirrigation in the Eastern Shore'sAccomack and Northampton countiesthan in all of Virginia's other countiescombined. Poultry and produce indus-tries are major groundwater con-sumers on the Eastern Shore.

The Coastal Plain, made up oflayers of sand, gravel, silt, and clay, isthe only physiographic province inVirginia that is composed mainly ofunconsolidated deposits. Most smalldomestic wells in the Coastal Plaintap shallow aquifers less than 70 feetbelow the surface. These aquifersprovide water of good quality, butthey are highly vul nerable to pollution

* 4 4

from surface sources since contam-inants can seep rapidly through theporous, sandy soils to the ground-water.

Much larger, deeper aquifers atleast several hundred feet below thesurface supply industrial and publicsupply wells with approximately 160million gallons a day. These aquifers,the state's largest, often producewell yields of more than 1,000 gallonsper minute. By comparison, domesticwells in sh2llow aquifers generallyyield 5 to 50 gallons a minute. (A wellyield of at least 6 gallons a minute isusually needed for home use, though10gallons a minute is more desirable.)

Even the Jgh the Coastal Plain hashuge quantities of groundwater indeep aquifers one estimate is 3trillion gallons municipalities inpopulous Southeast Virginia arefacing problems in meeting theirwater demands. Excessive with-drawal of groundwater from theseaquifers has created a major de-crease in groundwater availabilityaround Franklin. Overpumping hasalso caused salt water, which occursnaturally beneath the ocean floor, tointrude westward into the freshwateraquifers. Groundwater pumped fromdeeper the 150 feet beneath VirginiaBeach is V. J salty for household use.

Virginia's Waters: Groundwater 37

7

38 Virginia's Waters: Managemeat

Management

THE management of the state'swater resources is a compli-

... cated and often confusingprocess. It is not the purpose of thispublication to detail the many laws,court cases, and policies t: fat affectthe process. Instead, this section isintended to provide general infor-mation about the major laws andprograms affecting Virginia's waters.

Thirteen state and nine federalagencies have authority to managesome aspect of the state's water andrelated land resources. In addition,interstate agreements and compactshave an impact on waters borderingthe state.

A number of fedei al environmentallaws provide protection for bothground and surface waters. Theseinclude the Safe Drinking Water Act,Clean Water Act; Resource Conser-vation and Recovery Act; Tox;c Sub-stances Control Act; Federal Insect-icide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act,arid Comprehensive EnvironmentalResponse, Compensation and LiabilityAct (superfund). Many federal pro-grams relating to land use practicesalso affect management of tne qualityand quantity of Virginia's waterresources. Some involve nationalparks and forest..., federal reservoir s,wildlife refuges, wilderness areas,scenic rivers, wetlands, and soilconservation activities.

Virginia relies on the common-lawriparian doctrine for the allocation ofsurface vl,ater supplies. Under this

Claytor Lake State Park.

legal doctrine, the right to use waterdepends upon ownership of landbordered or crossed by a stream.Water use is further limited to landswithin the drainage basin where thewater is withdrawn. The amount ofwater that a user can withdraw mustbe reasonable in relation to otherswith similar rights.

To date, the court decisions relatedto Virginia's groundwater are few,and the courts have not definitelystated which of the common lawgroundwater doctrines absoluteownership or reasonable useshould be applied in the Common-wea h. Absolute ownership grants alanaowner the unqualified right touse the groundwater beneath hisland in whatever manner he sees fit.

The reasonable use doctrine, onthe other hand, restricts the use ofgroundwater to the overlying land.The groundwater doctrine of reason-able use, unlike the riparian doctrine,does not require a sharing of water toaccommodate others with similarrights.

VGINIA'S Groundwater Act of1973 providesforthedesignation

of groundwater management areaswhere (1) groundwater levels aredeclining; (2) the available supply is,or is about to be, overdrawn; (3) thegroundwater is, or is in danger of,becoming contaminated, or (4) thewells of two or more users substan-tially interfere with each aier. Withingroundwater management areas,permits are required for commercialor industrial withdrawals that exceed

4 f;

50,000 gallons a day. The designatedmanagement areas are (1) the south-eastern corner of the state, includingthe counties of Isle of Wight, PrinceGeorge, Southampton, Surrey, Sus-sex, and the cities of Chesapeake,Franklin, Hopewell, Norfolk, Suffolk,Portsmouth, and Virginia Beach; and(2) the Eastern Shore, comprisingAccomack and Northampton counties.

THE State Water Control Board(SWCB) is responsible for the

Commonwealth's water quality con-trol program and the administrationand enforcement of the State WaterControl Law. The sWCB is alsocharged with planning the develop-ment, conservation, and use of Vir-ginia's waters. Currently, the SWCBis working with statewide and regionaladvisory committees to develop awater plan for the Commonwealth.

The State Health Department hasresponsibility for safe drinking waterand other public health concernsrelated to water.

The Scenic Rivers Act, passed bythe General Assembly in 1970, pro-vides for the protection of rivers orriver sections of exceptional beauty.

The process of including a river orriver section into the system beginswith studies by the Division o. Parksand Recreation. Local citizen partici-pation is encouraged in gatheringdata and support for the designation.After a study has been completed,the division publishes its findings,holds hearings, and makes a recom-mendation to the governor andGeneral Assembly.

Virginia's Waters: Management 39

1

The law requires that an advisorycommittee of local residents assistand advise the Division of Parks andRecreation in the management ofeach scenic river. After the desig-nation, no dam or other structure canbe built that will impede the naturalflow of the river. Preservation ofstream banks and surrounding areasare required and development activ-ities are restricted to assure the scenicriver's "use and enjoyment" for its"recreational, geologic, fish and wild-life, historic, cultural, or other values."

Through 1986, 11 sections of 10rivers, totaling 225 stream miles,have been incorporated in th; 'cenicRivers System.

MAJOR issues and problemsinvolving Virginia's water re-

sources in the mid-1980c includeinterbasin transfers of water such asa proposed Lake Gaston-to-VirginiaBeach pipeline, possible constructionof a coal slurry pipeline across thestate, siting of hazardous wastedisposal faciiities, comprehensivemanagement of water resourcesthrough a withdrawal permit ,ystem,statewide standards for well construc-tion, expansion of public water supplies to keep pace with rapid urbangrowth, control of agricultural runoff,and improvement of municipalFewage treatment operations.

The overall quality of Virginia'swaters is rated as excellent by theSWCB, except in a few areas of theCommonwealth. Three large riversegments have notable toxic pollutionproblems: a 113-mile stretch o. theJames River has seasonal commercialfishing restrictions because of con-tamination by the pesticide Kepone;81 miles of the North Fork HolstonRiver are restricted to catch-e Id-release fishing because of mercurypollution; and 102 miles of the SouthRiver and South Fork ShenandoahRiver are under a health advisoryconcerning fish consumption becauseor mercury contamination.

The extent and levels of waterquality problems in the ChesapeakeBay still are being investigated even

40 Virginia's Waters: Management

as the state begins implementing a1U-year program to address the Day'sproblems.

MANY local pollution incidentsthreaten Virginia's waters.

Between July 1981 and June 1983,the SWCB and the U.S. Coast Guardinvestigated 969 oil spills in theCommonwealth. Fifty fish kills causedby pollution occurred during thisperiod. An August 1981 waste dis-r lrge from two fish processing

ants in Reedville killed 1.1 millionmenhaden. As of January 1, 1984,more than 80,000 acres of the state'sshellfish waters were closed due toactual or potential contamination.

Since ground and surface watersare intercom ;cted, groundwater isvulnerable to contamination thatoriginates at the land surface. Someimpurities may be filtered out ofwater as it percolates from the landsurface to aquifers, but this is notalways the case. Potentia! contam-inants of Virginia's groundwaterinclude sewage, petroleum products,hazardous waste, leachate from land-fills, pesticides, fertilize s, livestockand fowl wastes, road salt, and coalmining waste. Three of the mostcommon causes of groundwater con-tamination are malfunctioning septicsystems. leaking underground gas-oline or heating oil tanks, and poorlyconstructed wells that allow contam-inated surface water to pass directlyinto well water.

G ROUNDWATER contaminationhas become increasingly wide-

spread in Virginia. The extent ofgroundwater contamination in thestate is unknown, but several recentindicators suggest it is a growingproblem. In 1985, the SWCB received97 complaints about groundwatercontaminated by otruleum products,seven times as many as it hadreceived in 1979. The State HealthDepartment analyzed householddrinking water at 200 randomlyselected wells in 14 south-centralVirginia counties in 1983. The studyrevealed bacterial or chemical contam-

4 7

ination that exceeded establisheddrinking water standards in almostthree-fourths of the water systemssampled.

Groundwater moves so slowly thathuman exposure to contaminateddrinking water may not happen untilmonths or years after the initialcontamination. Cleaning up contam-inated groundwater is usually ex-pensive, often impractical, and some-times impossible. For instance, ifheating oil from an underground oilstorage tank leaks into a family's wellwater, that well may never again beusable as a home water supply.

Although the General Assemblyhas given primary responsibility forthe quality and quantity of Virginia'swaters to state agencies, every citizenalso has a personal responsibility touse Virginia's water resources wisely.To make well-informed decisions,Virginians need to understand thestate's water resources, the issuesand conflicts affecting water qualityand use, and our interrelationshipwith the environment.

VIRGINIANS have control overV the quality of the state's ground

and surface waters. Land uses andmany everyday activities affect waterquality. By properly maintaining wellsand septic systems and by beingcautious about the use of hazardoussubstances pesticides, fertilizers,herbicides, paints, fuels and thedisposal of all types of waste, everycitizen can help protect our waterresources.

Eves, Virginian can also play a part;n ensuring adequate water supplies.Conserving water simply usingonly as much as needed is eco-nomical and may help preventshortages in the future.

Residents of the Commonwealthhave a responsibility to future gener-ations to manage wisely and conservethe s' te's natural resources, so thatthe growth and progress of Virginiacontributes to improved quality of lifefor all its citizens. The future ofVirgiria's waters remains in thehands of all Virginians.

.;'4

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AUTHOR Sever,c.rf TITLE Virginia 3 Waters. INSTITUTION … · 2014-03-18 · DOCUMENT RESUME. SE 050 912. Sever,c.rf. Kathryn P.; And Others Virginia 3 Waters. Virginia Jater Resource