The North Fork Rivanna River
Stream profile: The North Fork Rivanna River
The Rivanna River begins as two streams, the South Fork Rivanna and North Fork Rivanna. The North Fork is the larger tributary, and its feeder streams include Preddy Creek, Beaverdam Creek, Buffalo/Roach River, Lynch River, and Swift Run.
The headwaters all begin in Greene County and come together to form the North Fork, which then converges with the South Fork to form the Rivanna just upstream from Darden Towe Park, Pen Park, and the Key West neighborhood. The North Fork watershed is about 170 square miles.
In the VA Department of Environmental Quality’s 2012 Water Quality Assessment, the North Fork is listed as impaired for high levels of E. coli bacteria between the river’s confluence with Lynch River and the confluence with the Rivanna. StreamWatch does not collect bacteria data along this stream, but our benthic macroinvertebrate assessments on the North Fork reveal “fair” conditions, which means that the stream does not pass the state standards for aquatic health. However, like many of our impaired streams, the degradation is moderate and could possibly be reversed with community action.
To learn more about the North Fork Rivanna River: