Think about where the water goes when it runs off your roof. It trickles down into a culvert or a nearby creek or stream, and then flows to a larger river, lake or bay. All the land that drains to a particular body of water is called a watershed.

A river’s watershed is made up of smaller watersheds as creeks and streams filter into larger ones before finally flowing into a single river. Virginia has 497 subwatersheds that make up the state’s 13 major watersheds.

Find your major watershed.

Albemarle Sound Coastal Watershed
Big Sandy River Watershed
Chesapeake Bay and Small Coastal Basins/Atlantic Ocean Coastal Basin
Chowan River Watershed
James River Watershed
New River Watershed
Potomac River watershed
Rappahannock River Watershed
Roanoke River Watershed
Shenandoah River Watershed
Upper Tennessee River Watershed
     Clinch River Subwatershed
     Holston River Subwatershed
     Powell River Subwatershed
York River Watershed