Rivanna Watershed

The Rivanna watershed lies at the heart of Virginia’s Jefferson Country. For a closer view, see our 2008 stream assessment map.

In the 18 th century, the Rivanna River—the largest tributary of the James—supplied energy, food, and means of transport to the plantations, farms and towns of central Virginia’s Albemarle and Fluvanna counties. The river system’s importance to the rural economy of that time cannot be overstated. Indeed, without the Rivanna, Thomas Jefferson could not have established Monticello. The system is no less important today.

The South Fork of the Rivanna passes beneath Route 29, north of Charlottesville.
To the west lies the South Fork Rivanna Reservoir.
[Photo courtesy of Albemarle County]


Relatively natural conditions
prevail in many Rivanna basin streams

The Rivanna drains a 766 square mile watershed that is home to over 100,000 people. The basin’s rivers and streams supply indispensable ecosystem services in the form of water supply and waste treatment capability. About 65% of the basin is forested, and much of the aquatic system retains exceptional natural assets, including some of the healthiest small Piedmont streams in the mid-Atlantic region.

The Mountain redbelly dace, though seldom seen by most people, is common in Rivanna headwaters and throughout Virginia.
[Photo courtesy of Robert Jenkins and the Virtual Aquarium of Virginia Tech]		 The James River spinymussel is extremely rare and has a small geographic range.
[Photo courtesy of Brian Watson, VA Dept. of Game and Inland Fisheries]

These waterways provide quality habitat to wildlife, including river otters, bald eagles, and over eighty species of fish. For some organisms, such as the globally threatened James River spinymussel, the Rivanna basin is one of few places in the world suitable for survival and reproduction.

The streams of the Rivanna provide recreational opportunities to hikers, canoeists and kayakers, fishermen, and kids of all ages who need to frolic in streams. Beyond utility, many Rivanna basin creeks and rivers are, to state it simply, beautiful. The economic value of the Rivanna system is enormous. The sum of all the Rivanna’s values—economic, ecological, social, and aesthetic—is inestimable.

Late afternoon on the lower Rivanna.