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ROCKBRIDGE HYDROPEDIA

A celebration of the

Maury River Watershed in

Rockbridge County, Virginia

Do you know what a watershed is or why it is important?

A watershed is an area of land that drains into a body of water like a pond, lake, river, bay, or ocean. Everyone lives in a watershed and everyone has an impact on its health.

Almost all the water from Rockbridge County, Virginia drains to the Maury River. We belong to the Maury River watershed.

The Maury drains to the James River and then to the Chesapeake Bay. That means when we take care of our local water, we are also taking care of the Chesapeake Bay.

Watershed Investigators

How healthy are our local creeks and rivers? Students in grades 4 - 6 have been going into the field to find out. They do chemical and biological tests to see how healthy the water is for aquatic life. To see what they have learned about each waterway, click the water quality data link. Find out more about their investigations, click links for photos and reflections. We also have related LESSON PLANS for teachers.

Links to schools	Water Quality Data for...	photos	reflections
Central Elementary	Maury River at Ben Salem Wayside
Effinger Elementary	Colliers Creek
Enderly Heights Elementary	Maury River at Buena Vista
Fairfield Elementary	South River above Irish Creek	Fall, 08
Kling Elementary	Maury River at Buena Vista (not yet active)
Mountain View Elementary	South River below Irish Creek	Fall, 08 Spring 09	watercolors
Natural Bridge Elementary	James River (not yet active)
Waddell Elementary	Woods Creek

Lylburn Downing Middle School	Town Branch (not yet posted) Woods Creek at Jordan's Point	Spring 09 LDMS Photos
Maury River Middle School	Spring Branch to Woods Creek Southern Tributaries (not yet active)
Parry McCluer Middle School	Maury River at Buena Vista (not yet posted)	Fall, 08
Rockbridge Middle School	Northern Tributaries	Fall, 08

Chesapeake Bay Investigators

What happens to our water when it reaches the Bay? Every fall about fifty 6th and 7th graders from the Rockbridge area travel to the Bay to investigate. The students stay for three days on an island. They explore beaches and marshes and go crabbing with local watermen. They have lots of fun but they also learn that the Bay is in trouble. Too much fertilizer and sediment is flowing into the Bay from the rivers in the watershed. These pollutants are reducing the amount of oxygen in the water that living things need. There are not as many crabs and oysters as there used to be and this hurts the watermen too. The students see how everything upstream affects everything downstream. When they return home they are ready to protect our local waters and help save the Bay! Click here to see some of the Middle School Service Learning Projects they are doing.