The Rivanna River
Stream Profile: The Rivanna River
The Rivanna River, originially called “River Anne,” forms a few miles north of Charlottesville at the convergence of the North Fork Rivanna and South Fork Rivanna. The watershed of the Rivanna River spans 766 square miles. If a watershed is like a bathtub, then the highest edge of the tub is the Blue Ridge Mountains to the west and Greene County to the north, with the bathtub stretching south and eastward to the Southwest Mountains and beyond, into Fluvanna County. The drain of the tub is the town of Columbia in southern Fluvanna County, where the Rivanna completes its journey and empties into the James River.
The Rivanna’s major direct tributaries include Raccoon, Meadow, Carroll, Ballinger, Long Island, Carys, Cunningham, Moores, Buck Mountain, and Mechunk Creeks, as well as the Mechums and Moormans Rivers, all of which are formed by dozens of smaller creeks and tributaries that stretch throughout the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle, Fluvanna, Greene and Louisa Counties.
To learn more about the Rivanna, it’s history, and it’s watershed:
Brief History of the Rivanna
Rivanna River History
Rivanna Watershed Information
Rivanna Conservation Society River Map