The Rappahannock River watershed is about 2,715 square miles, comprising about 6.8 percent of Virginia’s land area, and 4 percent of the entire Chesapeake Bay Watershed. Its 2000 population was estimated at 240,754.
The 184-mile-long Rappahannock River has its headwaters in Rappahannock and Fauquier Counties, and the river empties into the Chesapeake Bay between Lancaster and Middlesex Counties. Human influences are predominantly agriculture-based in the upper and lower portions of the watershed. The middle basin is exposed to fast-paced community developments, resulting in an increase in impervious surfaces and runoff rates. About 55 percent of the watershed is forested, 38 percent is agricultural, and 7 percent is urban.
The Embrey Dam currently blocks the Rappahannock River at the fall line in Fredericksburg, restricting the spawning habitat of anadramous shad and herring fisheries. The dam is scheduled to be removed by the Army Corps of Engineers in the near future; however, allowing for shad and herring to return to their original spawning grounds upriver.
Nearly 95 percent of the phosphorus and 93.5 percent of the nitrogen reaching the Rappahannock River originate from nonpoint sources. Most of the Rappahannock River’s dissolved oxygen problems occur at its mouth, resulting in severely degraded aquatic habitat.
Contact information:
DCR Watershed Office
P.O. Box 1425
Tappahannock, VA 22560
Phone: (804) 443-6752
Fax: (804) 443-4534
Learn from others in your community.
Additional resources:
www.chesapeakebay.net
www.rappriverbasin.state.va.us/
http://for.communitypoint.org/
http://rcc.va.nacdnet.org/
