The Chesapeake Bay/Small Coastal Basin is located in the eastern part of Virginia and covers 1,588 square miles or approximately 4 percent of the Commonwealth’s total land area.
Tributaries in the Chesapeake Bay/Coastal Basin drain into the Chesapeake Bay or into the Atlantic Ocean. The Basin encompasses the small bays, river inlets, islands and shoreline immediately surrounding the Chesapeake Bay and the southern tip of the Delmarva Peninsula — and the Chesapeake Bay itself.
The Chesapeake Bay/Coastal Basin is defined by both hydrologic and political boundaries, and is bordered by the Potomac River Basin, the Rappahannock River Basin, the York River Basin, the James River Basin and the Chowan River-Dismal Swamp Basin to its west. The Eastern Shore portion is bordered on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, on the north by Maryland, and on the west and south by the Chesapeake Bay.
The topography of the Chesapeake Bay/Coastal Basin varies little. The entire basin lies within the Coastal Plain Physiographic Province where elevations average no more than a few feet above sea level. More significant elevation occurs along the central spine of the Eastern Shore portion, which forms a plateau about 45 feet above sea level.
Much of the Chesapeake Bay/Coastal Basin is marshland. About 30 percent of the Chesapeake Bay/Coastal Basin is forested, while nearly 21.6 percent is in cropland and pasture. Approximately 24 percent is considered urban.
Major tributaries of the Basin are the Great Wicomico, Piankatank, Fleets Bay, Mobjack Bay, (East, North, Ware, and Severn Rivers) Poquoson, Back River and Lynnhaven, which flow from the mainland. Tributaries in the Eastern Shore portion that drain into the Bay are Pocomoke, Ononcock, Pungateague, Occohannock, and Nassawadox. Machipongo River, Cat Point Creek, Assawoman Creek, Parker Creek, Folly Creek, and Finney Creek drain directly into the Atlantic Ocean.
Contact information
DCR Watershed Office
1548 Holland Road
Suffolk, VA 23434
Phone: (757) 925-2468
Fax: (757) 925-2388
Learn more about community solutions in watersheds.
Additional resources:
www.chesapeakebay.net
www.cbf.org
www.acb-online.org
www.elizabethriver.org
