People, Land and Water at the
Headwaters of the
Rappahannock River Basin

Introduction

This report is written for landowners and residents, to assist in their continuing efforts to preserve, protect, conserve, and restore water resources and watersheds of Rappahannock and neighboring counties in Virginia.

2.1 Purposes of this work

The purpose of the work reported here is to describe the watersheds of Rappahannock County in a scientifically defensible way, drawing upon all available data. By having an accurate understanding of the health and vulnerabilities of the watershed, citizens can target their efforts for improvement in a more cost-effective way.

The questions we addressed are the following:

• What do Rappahannock County’s residents and landowners most value about the health of their watersheds?
•  In what ways do landowner decisions and public policy contribute to the health and protection of our watersheds, and the quantity and quality of water in Rappahannock County? 
• What makes our watersheds vulnerable?
• What factors contribute to the health and protection of our watersheds?
• Where in our County are the most-protected and least-protected subwatersheds? 
• In general, how well protected are the watersheds of the County?   
• In what ways does our local government and the Commonwealth help in protecting our watersheds?
• What data and methods are available to help make these assessments?

These were the initial questions that RappFLOW volunteers and our partner organizations attempted to answer in the studies that are reported in this document.

This report is intended to accomplish the following:

• summarize what has been learned to date with regard to the above questions
• identify questions for further inquiry
• suggest goals for improved protection, especially of the least-protected subwatersheds

Why is this information useful?

This information can help landowners, the general public, nonprofit organizations, and the leaders of the County decide on ways to improve watershed protection through individual landowner practices, through efforts of community organizations or groups of landowners within a subwatershed, or through public policy.  Collectively, these actions will reduce the amount of sediments, nutrients, and contaminants entering streams, ponds, and groundwater.  Healthier watersheds mean healthier habitats for humans, farm animals, pets, and wildlife. Increased watershed protection will also result in less severe flooding, better ground water supply through reduced stormwater runoff, improved water quality in the Upper Rappahannock River Basin, and, indirectly, improved water quality in the Chesapeake Bay.

This project addresses goals of the Chesapeake 2000 Agreement, Rappahannock River Basin Tributary Strategy, and Rappahannock County Comprehensive Plan. The project addresses these commitments in the Chesapeake 2000 Agreement: 1) Preserve, protect, and restore those habitats and natural areas that are vital to the survival and diversity of the living resources of the Bay and its rivers; 2) Achieve and maintain the water quality necessary to support the aquatic living resources of the Bay and its tributaries and to protect human health; 3) Develop, promote, and achieve sound land use practices which protect and restore watershed resources and water quality, maintain reduced pollutant loadings for the Bay and its tributaries, and restore and preserve aquatic living resources; and 4) Promote individual stewardship and assist individuals, community-based organizations, businesses, local governments, and schools to undertake initiatives to achieve the goals and commitments of the agreement.

This work supports the Rappahannock River Tributary Strategy in several ways, especially by placing a high value on vegetated stream buffers in our assessment of watershed health and protection. According to the Tributary Strategy, “The 100-foot buffer area … is deemed to achieve at least 75 percent reduction of sediments and a 40 percent reduction of nutrients.”[2]  Among the Rappahannock Tributary Strategy goals for improving water quality and habitat by the year 2010 are: reduction in nutrient and sediment loading, addressing chronic erosion and stream bank instability in the western Rappahannock basin, and implementing the CREP program basin-wide. The Rappahannock County allocations for the Tributary Strategy “Input Deck” in 2005 provided provisional goals for 2010 for forestry, agricultural, and urban/suburban Best Management Practices (BMP’s) with respect to riparian forested buffers and hence reductions in erosion, sedimentation, nutrients, biological impairments and other contamination. The Tributary Strategy for Rappahannock County called for an increase by the year 2010 from 972 to 1,704 acres of forested buffer area in agricultural BMPs, and establishment of 908 acres of forested buffers in suburban BMPs.

This work supports the Rappahannock County Comprehensive Plan in several ways as discussed in Section 7 of this report.  Information developed from this project was used to assist in the drafting of the Stormwater Management Ordinance and Stream Buffer Overlay District of the Zoning Ordinance.  RappFLOW provides ongoing findings from the study to the County’s Water Quality Advisory Committee, the Board of Supervisors, the Planning Commission, to nonprofit organizations, and to the general public through the website www.rappflow.org and articles in the local newspaper and public workshops.

2.2 Overview of Rappahannock County’s People, Land, and Water

Our rural County (population about 7,000) is at the headwaters of the Upper Rappahannock River Basin, and covers an area of about 267 square miles (170,880 acres). The county seat, the Town of Washington, is about 65 miles west of Washington, D.C. and 120 miles NW of Richmond. The NW boundary is in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The Rappahannock River forms the NE boundary with Fauquier County.  Altitudes range from about 3,700 feet above sea level in the Blue Ridge, to the lowest point at 360 feet near the Culpeper County border.  Most of the County’s topography can be classified as having steep or rolling hillsides. See Map 1: Elevation Contours. The county is located in the Headwaters of the Rappahannock River Watershed, meaning that we are the beginning, the uppermost reaches of the Rappahannock River.  All streams in the County eventually drain to the Rappahannock River. All our surface water originates from rainwater – no streams come down to our county from anyplace upstream, because all streams originate here. Seven hundred and fifty-five (755) stream miles, many on steep slopes, crisscross our rural landscape.  There are approximately 576 ponds totaling about 540 acres in area, and about 712 acres of wetlands.[3] Drinking water for 96% of residents comes from private wells, springs or streams. Segments of four of our major streams are designated 303(d) impaired by the VA DEQ.[4] 

2.3 Watershed Protection versus Watershed Restoration

 In reviewing watershed assessments from areas where a high degree of development has taken place[5], it becomes obvious that protecting watersheds from degradation and vulnerability is far less costly than restoring them after damage has been done.  Rappahannock County thus far has avoided major problems that typically result from development.[6] Therefore, this study focuses primarily on factors that contribute to protecting our watersheds from future damage, as well as identifying sources of current vulnerability.[7] 

Next: What factors can we use to assess the health and protection of our watersheds?
Back to TOC