What is the main watershed in Virginia?
Table of Contents
Chesapeake Bay
Watershed size, tributaries
| Name | Area (sq. miles) | Major Tributaries |
|---|---|---|
| Chesapeake Bay Coastal | 2,577 | Chesapeake Bay, Piankatank |
| Atlantic Ocean Coastal | 580 | Chincoteague Bay, Hog Island Bay |
| Rappahannock | 2,714 | Rappahannock River, Rapidan River, Hazel River |
| York | 2,669 | York River, Pamunkey River, Mattaponi River |
What 8 watersheds make up the Chesapeake Bay?
These tributaries are direct conduits carrying runoff and pollution into the Bay. Major rivers that empty into the Bay include the James, York, Rappahannock, Potomac, Patuxent, Patapsco, and Susquehanna from the west and the Pocomoke, Wicomico, Nanticoke, Choptank, and Chester from the east.
What watersheds live in Virginia?
It includes all or parts of 39 counties and 18 cities and drains one-fourth of the state’s land area into the Chesapeake Bay. Some watersheds drain into others. Most of Virginia is in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
What 4 Virginia watersheds flow into the Chesapeake Bay?
Chesapeake Bay Rivers Virginia has 4 major river systems that flow into the Chesapeake Bay and then toward the Atlantic Ocean. They are, from north to south: the Potomac-Shenandoah River system, the Rappahannock River, the York River, and the James River.
What watershed is southwest Virginia in?
Nearly two-thirds of Virginia drains into the Chesapeake Bay. Southeastern and south-central Virginia drain into the Albemarle Sound in North Carolina. Rivers in Southwest Virginia flow to the Mississippi River and on to the Gulf of Mexico.
Which watershed is the largest watershed in Virginia?
The James River is Virginia’s largest river, flowing across the entire state. It begins in the mountains and ends at the Chesapeake Bay in Hampton Roads. It is 340 miles long and is fed by 15,000 miles of tributaries.
What watershed covers most of Virginia?
The Chesapeake Bay Watershed covers 64,000 square miles; includes parts of six states (Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York) and Washington, D.C.; has 11,684 miles of shoreline, including tidal wetlands and islands (that’s more shoreline than the entire West Coast of the United States);
Where is the Chesapeake Bay watershed located in Virginia?
The Chesapeake Bay watershed (drainage basin) extends about five hundred miles south from the headwaters of Otsego Lake, near Cooperstown, New York to the Atlantic Ocean and Suffolk, Virginia. It extends east from mountain streams near Blacksburg, Virginia to Berlin, Maryland (near Ocean City).
What are the 3 major watersheds in VA?
Virginia rivers also are part of three major watersheds of North America: The Chesapeake Bay, the North Carolina Sounds, and the Mississippi River.
What watersheds make up the Chesapeake Bay watershed?
The Susquehanna, Potomac, Rappahannock, York and James rivers are the five largest rivers in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. More than 100,000 streams, creeks and rivers—called tributaries—thread through this watershed.
What type of watershed is the Chesapeake Bay?
The Chesapeake Bay watershed, or draingage basin, encompasses six states – New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. A drainage basin is a giant system of creeks, streams, and rivers that all flow into a common outlet, which in this case is the Chesapeake Bay.