A Beautiful Year - More To Do

By Dave Sligh

As we near the end of 2009, I am thinking back on the many experiences I have had throughout the upper James watershed. I have met hundreds of people who care about and know about the River and its tributaries and who will be great allies in the years to come. We achieved some important advances on regulations to better control pollution from construction sites, poultry waste transfers, post-construction stormwater, and industrial runoff.

Below Falling Spring Falls, Alleghany County

Best of all, during the past year, I have seen so many beautiful sights throughout our area and I am including some of my favorite photos here as a holiday season gift.

Under Swinging Bridge, Craig Creek

Cool Pool on West Fork Tye River

James River, Botetourt County

High Water on the James

By Dave Sligh

Last Thursday, the James was flowing high and full. The photo above shows the area that usually serves as the parking lot for the Scottsville boat ramp. I saw large logs and pieces of wood continually streaming by, out in the middle of the stream. I also visited sites downstream as far as New Canton, and the River was also lapping up into and over boat ramps and parking lots at other sites.







Some data on this high flow event:

Peak flow at Scottsville:
43,000 cubic feet per second (cfs)

which equals 28 billion gallons per day.

Median flow for this time of year:
2,000 cfs

which equals about 1.3 billion gallons per day


The stream flows in the James River climbed from 7,670 cfs at 10:30 p.m. on Dec. 8th to 43,900 cfs at 6:30 p.m. on the 10th.
An increase of over 570% in 44 hours.

By contrast, the Rivanna River at Palmyra rose from 1,060 cfs to a peak flow of 17,500 cfs in a much shorter time.
An increase of 16,500% in only 26 hours.

This steeper rate of increasing flows in the Rivanna is likely due, at least in part, to a higher percentage of developed and impervious surfaces in this watershed than in the James River watershed above Scottsville.

Falling Springs

By Dave Sligh



Last week, Bill Street and I visited an area of Alleghany County that more people should know about. The waterfall shown above, Falling Spring Falls, is of both ecological and historical significance.

According to signs at the site provided by the Virginia Division of State Parks, the stream that flows over the falls begins in Warm River Cave, north of this point. Warm thermal spring water mixes with a seperate stream of cold groundwater in the cave. The water is supersaturated with carbonate and creates formations of limestone, like those at the base of the falls. Below the Falls, in areas where rocks are continuously moistened by spray and water splashing, a unique community of organisms, including moss and bryophyte species survives in an environment considered to be rare in Virginia.

Historical features of the site include a visit to by Thomas Jefferson to survey the falls and a mention in Jefferson's 1781, Notes on the State of Virginia. Electrical power was first generated when the force of water from the Falls was harnessed by piping it about a mile down the valley to a power plant. This plant has recently been re-opened and is again generating electicity.

Falling Springs Run eventually feeds the Jackson River after winding its way down through a narrow valley. The picture below shows the stream just above where the streams join.