Tri-County/City Soil and Water Conservation District

Rivers don't know county boundaries or state borders. It's watersheds that connect us to our waters ... and you can make a difference. Everything we do on the land affects the quality of the water in our rivers and streams.

We need water to drink, to keep clean, for recreation, transportation, fishing, and to produce goods and energy. But most people don't spend much time thinking about where their water comes from or how their actions on land can affect water. Everything we do on the land affects the quality of the water in our rivers and streams. When water runs off the land, it takes fertilizers, loose soil, litter, and other pollutants with it.

Trying to prevent pollution from running off land that drains into a waterway is what watershed management is all about.

We all live in a watershed. You know your street address, but do you know your watershed address? Think about where the water goes when it runs off your roof. Water runs off your roof or driveway into a nearby creek or stream, and then flows to a larger river, bay, or lake. All the land that drains to a particular water body is its watershed.

Why should you care what watershed you live in? If you're concerned about the quality of the water you use, you might be interested in knowing where it's been before it gets to you. The way land is used upstream has a direct effect on your water. Most of us live downstream from someone else.

Virginia is a well-watered state receiving approximately one meter (39 inches) of precipitation per year. Much of this water runs off into streams and rivers, while the rest returns as groundwater.

Virginia has 14 major watersheds that are made up of 497 subwatersheds. More than half of the state's lands drain to the Chesapeake Bay. The waters from the southern rivers all leave the state. Some flow to the Albemarle Sound in North Carolina. It surprises some people to learn that many of Virginia's watersheds eventually drain to the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico!

To find out your watershed address, go to http://cfpub.epa.gov/surf/locate/index.cfm, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's website.

For more information on Virginia's watersheds, or a list of local DCR watershed office contacts, visit the Department of Conservation & Recreation's website at http://www.dcr.state.va.us.