Rappahannock River Basin Commission

Rappahannock River Basin

Watershed Description

The Rappahannock River Basin or Watershed includes the land and water drainage area that flows to the Rappahannock River. The area of the watershed is approximately 2715 square miles, and includes the counties of Albemarle, Caroline, Essex, Fauquier, Greene, King George, Lancaster, Madison, Middlesex, Northumberland, Orange, Rappahannock, Richmond, Spotsylvania, Stafford, and Westmoreland. The City of Fredericksburg and several towns also share the watershed.

The waterway begins as streams flowing from the eastern slopes of the Blue Ridge mountains. The southern streams form the Rapidan River, while the Rappahannock River forms in the northern localities of the watershed. The Rapidan meets the Rappahannock just west of Fredericksburg, where Culpeper, Stafford, and Spotsylvania counties share borders. The river at Fredericksburg travels through the fall line geologic formation, characterized by rocks and rapids. East of Frederickburg, the Rappahannock enters the coastal province of the state, where the waters receive tidal influences from the Chesapeake Bay. The river continues to widen and becomes increasingly brackish as it flows east toward Stingray Point and Windmill Point where it meets the Bay.

The following lists the locality and the percent of the locality located within the Rappahannock River Basin:

Locality	% Area in Basin	Locality	% Area in Basin
Albemarle	1	Madison	100
Caroline	20	Middlesex	42
Culpeper	100	Northumberland	1
Essex	90	Orange	56
Fauquier	44	Rappahannock	100
Fredericksburg	100	Richmond	88
Greene	41	Spotsylvania	23
King George	38	Stafford	29
Lancaster	90	Westmoreland	26

Land Use

Landuse Characteristics

The vast majority of the land area within the basin is in rural and conservation uses. These rural uses can include forestry, farming, low density residential, and small pockets of mixed uses. The areas around the City of Fredericksburg, and around several of the towns include various residential uses, along with commercial, industrial, and other mixed uses. A large land area in Caroline County contains the Fort A. P. Hill military base.

The following lists the locality and the percent of each landuse of the locality within the Rappahannock River Basin:

Locality	%Rural	%Residential	%Mixed	%Commercial	%Industrial	%Conservation	%Military
Albemarle	100	0	0	0	0	0	0
Caroline	29	0	2	0	0	0	69
Culpeper	88	8	3	0	0	0	0
Essex	95	4	0	0	0	0	0
Fauquier	87	4	1	0	0	7	0
Fredericksburg	0	64	0	18	17	0	0
Greene	53	0	10	1	1	35	0
King George	92	0	5	0	2	0	0
Lancaster	45	24	3	0	0	0	0
Madison	66	2	0	1	0	31	0
Middlesex	15	77	6	1	0	0	0
Northumberland	99	0	1	0	0	0	0
Orange	81	17	0	0	1	0	0
Rappahannock	56	2	0	0	0	42	0
Richmond	96	3	0	0	0	0	0
Spotsylvania	0	89	1	2	4	5	0
Stafford	56	16	4	3	8	13	0
Westmoreland	91	2	5	2	0	0	0

Population

The population densities shown on the following map were derived from the 1990 U. S. Census, and were analyzed by Block Group. The map shows that higher population densities are centered around the Town of Culpeper, the City of Fredericksburg, and near the mouth of the river along the shorelines of Lancaster and Middlesex Counties. Note that since Census Block Groups do not necessarily follow the basin delineation, population counts along the watershed boundary may include persons located outside the watershed.

The following lists the locality and the estimated number of persons in the locality located within the Rappahannock River Basin:

* Not able to estimate.
Locality	# Persons in Basin	Locality	# Persons in Basin
Albemarle	*	Madison	11949
Caroline	1418	Middlesex	8209
Culpeper	27791	Northumberland	*
Essex	8249	Orange	17973
Fauquier	24737	Rappahannock	6622
Fredericksburg	16603	Richmond	7273
Greene	4698	Spotsylvania	45608
King George	6652	Stafford	24046
Lancaster	10644	Westmoreland	5930

Wetlands

The National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) is a project of the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The wetlands delineations shown on the following page are the digitally available NWI plus four 7.5 minute quad based NWI hardcopy sheets that were digitized. The areas where no wetlands are shown do not have the inventory in a digital format. The NWI is in the process of being updated and converted to digital format.

The following table of wetlands areas by locality in the basin includes notation where data is not available or only partially covers the locality.

* Partial Coverage of Locality

** No Digital Coverage
Locality	Acres Wetlands in Basin	Locality	Acres Wetlands in Basin
Albemarle	7	Madison	1032
Caroline	437*	Middlesex	4238
Culpeper	1167*	Northumberland	7
Essex	15080	Orange	7871*
Fauquier	200*	Rappahannock	4680*
Fredericksburg	**	Richmond	29106
Greene	188*	Spotsylvania	**
King George	2737	Stafford	261*
Lancaster	4794	Westmoreland	3885

100 Year Floodplain

The data source for the 100 Year Floodplain is the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Q3 digital data and Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM).

The following is a table of floodplain areas in the basin by locality:

Locality	Sq. Miles Floodplain in Basin	Locality	Sq. Miles Floodplain in Basin
Albemarle	0.09	Madison	11.0
Caroline	12.8	Middlesex	12.5
Culpeper	25.7	Northumberland	0.00
Essex	45.2	Orange	11.3
Fauquier	16.3	Rappahannock	5.27
Fredericksburg	0.64	Richmond	13.7
Greene	2.02	Spotsylvania	5.85
King George	11.5	Stafford	9.73
Lancaster	20.8	Westmoreland	8.19

Onsite Septic Suitability

The determination of suitable soils for onsite septic drainfield absorption systems is determined by soil tests at the site conducted by the Health Department or other soil scientists. The suitability map on the following page provides a general indication of the suitability for onsite absorption systems based on soil type. Soil surveys usually list in a table the limitations one might expect for a particular soil type. These limitations are noted as " None", "Moderate" or "Severe", which correspond to the "Suitable", "Limited", and "Unsuitable" categories found on the map legend. The soil survey tables are based on high water table and permeability. It should be noted that due to the year that a particular soil survey was completed, the soil suitability indices may no longer be current. To account for this, the project utilized the latest soil type indices available from the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Prime Agricultural Soils

The Natural Resources Conservation Service rates soil types as to their quality for agricultural production. It is well known that the Rappahannock River basin contains many acres of quality farm land. The map shows those soil types regarded as "Prime" for crop production.

The following is a table of prime agricultural soils areas in the basin by locality:

Note: Prime soils classification does not necessarily indicate that the land is in agricultural production, most of these areas are in forest cover.
Locality	Acres Prime Soils in Basin	Locality	Acres Prime Soils in Basin
Albemarle	not calculated	Madison	28,401
Caroline	35,906	Middlesex	21,784
Culpeper	76,374	Northumberland	832
Essex	64,357	Orange	10,280
Fauquier	39,367	Rappahannock	46,438
Fredericksburg	no survey	Richmond	55,713
Greene	4131	Spotsylvania	13,206
King George	15,015	Stafford	17,733
Lancaster	33,243	Westmoreland	16,750

VPDES Permit Locations

The Virginia Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (VPDES) program is managed by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. Permits are issued to wastewater dischargers setting effluent limits and monitoring and reporting requirements. The following list corresponds to the location numbers found on the map:

**NOTE: MGD Flow 0.00 indicates less than 10,000 gallons per day, blanks are missing data in database**
Number	Name	MGD Flow	Receiving Stream
1	American Security Council Fnd	0.02	Hazel River, UT
2	Quarles Petroleum - Culpeper	0.03	Jonas Run, UT
3	Aileen, Inc. STP	0.02	Hickman Run
4	Washington WTP	0.01	Rush River
5	Rappahannock River Elementary School	0.01	Rush River, UT
6	Rappahannock River H. Sch.	0.01	Covington River, UT
7	Sperryville STP	0.06	Thornton River
8	Marshall STP	0.64	Carter Run, UT
9	Warrenton STP	2.50	Great Run, UT
10	River Ridge Utility	0.05	Rappahannock River
11	South Wales Utility, Inc.	0.07	Rappahannock River, UT
12	South Wales Utility STP	0.86	Rappahannock River
13	Fauquier Springs Country Club	0.02	Rappahannock River
14	Emerald Hill Elem. School	0.01	Muddy River
15	Opal STP	0.03	Tinpot Run, UT
16	Trinity Packaging Corp.	0.00	Tinpot Run, UT
17	Colonial Pipeline-Remington	0.00	Brown's Run, UT
18	Remington Wastewater Treatment	1.40	Rappahannock River
19	Mary Walter Elem. Sch.	0.01	Harper's Run
20	Mount Dumplin STP	0.30	Flat Run, UT
21	Culpeper Co. Ind. Airpark STP
22	Ferguson STP	0.00	Jonas Run, UT
23	Culpeper Wood Preservers	0.80	Jonas Run, UT
24	Culpeper Petroleum Cooperative	0.00	Mountain Run, UT
25	Culpeper WTP	0.27	Mountain Run
26	Culpeper Concrete	0.00	Mountain Run, UT
27	Culpeper Wastewater Plant	3.00	Mountain Run
28	American Security Council Fndn	0.45	Hazel River
29	ITT Automotive North America	0.03	Meadowbrook Run, UT
31	Medium Sec. Dorm IV - Culpeper	0.20	Cabin Branch
32	Hartland Institute	0.03	Robinson River
33	Cleydael Limited Partnership
34	Rapidan Serive Authority - Madison Wate	0.02	White Oak Run, UT
35	RSA-Madison STP	0.08	Little Dark Run
36	Madison Wood Preservers	0.00	Little Dark Run
37	Madison Co. H. Sch.	0.01	Little Dark Run
38	Madison Co. Primary Sch.	0.01	Dark Run, UT
39	Mountain View Nursing Home	0.01	Great Run, UT
40	Madison Co. Elem. Sch.	0.00	Little Dark Run, UT
41	Woodberry Forest Sch.	0.00	Rapidan River, UT
42	Orange, Town of	1.50	Rapidan River
43	Orange, Town WTP	0.20	Poplar Run, UT and Poplar Run
44	Rapidan Baptist Camp & Conf Ct	0.02	Rapidan River, UT
45	Greene County WTP	0.01	Rapidan River

**NOTE: MGD Flow 0.00 indicates less than 10,000 gallons per day, blanks are missing data in database**
Number	Name	MGD Flow	Receiving Stream
46	IIHS Veh. Safety Research Ctr.
47	Luck Stone - Ruckersville	0.30	White Run
48	Atlantic Research-Orange	0.04	Mountain Run and UT
49	Colonial Pipeline-Locust Grove	0.00	Mine Run, UT
50	Locust Grove Elem. Sch.	0.03	Cormack Run, UT
51	Wilderness STP	0.50	Rapidan River
52	Flat Run POTW	0.25	Flat Run
53	Wilderness Corner Shopping Cnt	0.04	Wilderness Run
54	Lake Wilderness WTP	0.02	Grant Lake, UT
55	Hartwood Elem. Sch.	0.01	Horsepen Run, UT
56	Tarmac - Falmouth	0.03	England Run, UT
57	Colonial Concrete	0.00	Rappahannock River, UT
58	Quarles Petroleum - Stafford
59	Fredericksburg WTP	0.42	Rappahannock River
60	Quarles Petroleum - Fred'burg	3.60	Deep Run, UT
61	FMC Wastewater Treatment Facility	4.00	Rappahannock River
62	Fredericksburg WWTF	3.50	Rappahannock River
63	Glenwood Mobile Home Park	0.03	Massaponax Creek, UT
64	Exposaic Industries	0.00	Massaponax Creek, UT
65	Exposaic Industries, Inc. STP	0.01	Massaponax Creek, UT
66	Massaponax WWTF	6.00	Rappahannock River
67	Little Falls Run WWTP	4.00	Rappahannock River
68	Hopyard Farm WWTF	0.25	Rappahannock River
69	Presidential Lakes, Section 14	0.04	Popcastle Creek
70	Four Winds Campground STP	0.04	Skinkers Creek, Rappahannock
71	SEI Birchwood Power Facility	0.57	Rappahannock River
72	White Packing Company, Inc.	0.12	Rappahannock River
73	Haymount WWTF	0.24	Rappahannock River
74	Ft. A. P. Hill - Wilcox	0.53	Mill Creek, UT
75	Northern Neck Coca-Cola Co.	0.00	UT Chandlers Mill Pond
76	Montross Sewer Cooperative STP	0.00	UTPortersMdw.,Chandler's Pond
77	Montross Westmoreland WWTP	0.10	Ruin Branch, Cat Point Creek
78	Washington & Lee High School	0.01	Ruin Branch, Cat Point Creek
79	Wood Preservers, Inc.	0.00	Cat Point Creek, Totuskey Creek
80	Haynesville Correctional Ctr.	0.15	UT Garlands Mill Pond
81	Warsaw Aerated Lagoons	0.30	UT Totuskey Creek
82	Town of Tappahannock	0.40	Hoskins Creek
83	U.S. Land & Lumber Co., L.L.C.
84	Doggett Seafood, LLC
85	W. F. Morgan and Sons, Inc.
86	The Tides Inn, Inc.	0.03	Carter's Creek
87	The Tides Golf Lodge, Inc	0.03	Carter's Creek
88	Windmill Point Marine Resort	0.03	Windmill Point M.R. Boat Basin
89	Town of Urbanna STP	0.10	Urbanna Creek
90	Middle Pen. Reg. Security Ctr.	0.04	Intermittent trib. to Urbanna Cr.
91	Christchurch School	0.04	INTRIB Rappahannock River
92	Mizpah Nursing Home STP	0.02	Rappahannock River
93	Kruse's Wharf	0.01	Broad Creek
94	Bay Ventures, LTD
95	Green's Marina & Boat Yard	0.01	Broad Creek
96	Norton's Marina, Inc.	0.01	Broad Creek
97	Dozier's Dockyard, Inc.	0.01	Broad Creek

Federal and State Lands

Albemarle:		NONE
Caroline:		FT A.P. HILL MIL RES
		DEPARTMENT OF GAME AND INLAND FISHERIES
Culpeper:		DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
		DEPARTMENT OF STATE POLICE
		DEPARTMENT OF GAME AND INLAND FISHERIES
		DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
		US MIL RES - WARRENTON TR.CTR.
		NORTHERN REGION CORRECTIONS FIELD UNITS
		FREDERICKSBURG- SPOTSYLVANIA NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK
Essex :		DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY
		DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Fauquier:		DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
		US MIL RES - WARRENTON TR CTR
		DEPARTMENT OF MILITARY AFFAIRS
		DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY
		DEPT. OF AGRICULTURA & CONSUMER SERVICES
		DEPARTMENT OF STATE POLICE
		DEPARTMENT OF GAME AND INLAND FISHERIES
Fredericksburg:		MARY WASHINGTON COLLEGE
		FREDERICKSBURG- SPOTSYLVANIA NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK
		DEPARTMENT OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL
		DEPARTMENT OF GAME AND INLAND FISHERIES
		NATIONAL CEMETERY
		DEPARTMENT OF MILITARY AFFAIRS
		ALUM SPRING PARK
Greene:		SHENANDOAH NATIONAL PARK
		DEPARTMENT OF GAME AND INLAND FISHERIES
		DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
King George:		DEPARTMENT OF GAME AND INLAND FISHERIES
Lancaster:		BELLE ISLE STATE PARK
		DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
		DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY
Madison:		SHENANDOAH NATIONAL PARK
		DEPARTMENT OF GAME AND INLAND FISHERIES
		DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Middlesex:		DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Northumberland:		NONE
Orange:		GERMANNA COMMUNITY COLLEGE
		FREDERICKSBURG- SPOTSYLVANIA NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK
		DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Rappahannock:		DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Spotsylvania:		DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
		FREDERICKSBURG- SPOTSYLVANIA NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK
		DEPARTMENT OF STATE POLICE
		DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES
Stafford:		MARY WASHINGTON COLLEGE
		DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
		FREDERICKSBURG- SPOTSYLVANIA NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD PARK
		DEPARTMENT OF GAME AND INLAND FISHERIES
Westmoreland:	NONE