Virginia Association of Soil & Water Conservation Districts

VASWCD WATERSHED

EDUCATION WEBSITE

Do you know your watershed address?

You know your street address. What's your watershed address? Find out and keep our waterways clean. To find out what you can do to keep your watershed healthy, contact your local SWCD.

Available from your local SWCD Office:

Watershed Bumper Stickers (10 major watersheds of Virginia)
Watershed Connections Activity Books - An activity book for kids who care about Virginia's waterways. (Age group: 3rd & 4th Grade) Click here to download
Watershed Maps

Watershed & Soils Education Curriculum:

Watershed - Third Grade Curriculum

Watershed - Sixth Grade Curriculum

Soils Curriculum

A special thank you to Project WET (Water Education for Teachers) International Foundation for permission to reprint several activities. To learn more about the program or order materials, visit http://www.projectwet.org. In Virginia, Project WET is sponsored by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. To set up workshops, please contact the Virginia Office of Environmental Education http://www.deq.virginia.gov/education/wet.html.

Watershed Education Slideshows:

How to use the watershed slide kit

The watershed slide show is made up of three sections. Download Slideshow Script (these are large files and take time to download depending on internet connection)

I. The first section contains slides and a script that describes what a watershed is and gives examples of different characteristics that make each watershed unique. Download Section I (these are large files and take time to download depending on internet connection)

II. The middle section of the show is for your group to customize for your particular watershed. The slides you take or choose can follow your watershed from the headwaters to the mouth of the major river it flows into. You might emphasize landuses, problems or issues your watershed group wants to tackle or other topics you feel most appropriate to highlight your watershed. You could include history, fish stories, legends - make it interesting. Download Watershed Slideshows: Chowan; Coastal; James; New River; Potomac; Rappahannock; Roanoke; Shenandoah; Tennessee/Big Sandy; York (these are large files and take time to download depending on internet connection)

III. The third section contains slides and a script for eight major rivers in Virginia. Choose the major river watershed your local watershed is in. You may want to go backwards on your custom-made slide show and switch the Aflow@ from the large river up to the headwaters. The slide show components can be moved around to suit your needs. Download Section III (these are large files and take time to download depending on internet connection)

Additional Slideshow produced by the Center for Watershed Protection

Watershed Yellow Pages

Chesapeake Bay (PDF)
Big Sandy (PDF)
Chowan (PDF)
Lower James (PDF)
Middle James (PDF)
New River (PDF)
Potomac (PDF)
Rappahannock (PDF)
Roanoke (PDF)
Shenandoah (PDF)
Upper James (PDF)
Upper Tennessee (Holston) (PDF)
York (PDF)

Meaningful Watershed Experience

Chesapeake Bay Watershed Profiles - About 60 percent of the commonwealth drains to the Chesapeake Bay, the world's most productive estuary. Those watersheds include the Potomac (including Shenandoah), Rappahannock, York and James rivers as well as coastal lands on the bay's shoreline. You can learn more about these watersheds by visiting the Chesapeake Bay Program's website that provides detailed profiles on each. Click here to visit the site.

Click here to learn about the Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Program (managed by North Carolina; Virginia's Chowan River and land around the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake area drain into the region).

Click here to visit the Blackwater Nottoway Riverkeeper Program's website.

Visit the New River American Heritage River website. The New River, which flows north through southwestern Virginia, is one of only 14 American Heritage Rivers.

Click here to visit the Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA) river system index. Southwestern Virginia's Holston, Clinch and Powell rivers' watersheds drain to the Tennessee River.

Rivers and Watersheds - The Geology of Virginia (College of William and Mary)

Virginia Watershed Land Use (Virginia Tech, 4H)

Forests of the Eastern United States (Virginia Tech, 4H)

Watershed Management Planning