Welcome to StreamWatch

The streams and rivers of the Rivanna River basin provide the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle, Fluvanna, and Greene Counties with a wealth of resources and services, including drinking water, recreation, waste treatment, wildlife, and scenic beauty.

However, the Rivanna system is impacted by human activities, and a majority of StreamWatch’s representative monitoring sites do not meet the Virginia aquatic life water quality standard. Foremost stressors include sediment pollution and alteration of flow due to impervious land cover, dams, and withdrawals.

With the help of dedicated volunteers, StreamWatch supplies data to the community to help facilitate wise management of this invaluable ecosystem.



2012-2014 Stream Health Report

We are proud to share that the 2012-2014 Stream Health Report is now available. Release of the report marks the 6th such assessment during the 11 years of monitoring local water quality by StreamWatch and our incredible team of volunteers.

Click here for a PDF copy of the report

Stream health during the past three years is not encouraging. Sixty-four percent of the 50 streams assessed fail to meet the Virginia water quality standard for aquatic life. While a slight improvement from the previous assessment, this finding is consistent with past results. According to our assessment methods, the benthic health of the Rivanna stream network has not significantly declined or improved during the past decade.

You can read the press release for the debut of the report here .



2015 Bacteria Monitoring Report

Our 2015 bacteria monitoring report is now available. Read about clean swimming spots on the Rivanna and our partnership with James River Association to do weekly bacteria sampling during the summer of 2015.

Click here for a PDF copy of the report



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