TMDL Studies

Hardware River

First Public Meeting will be Nov 30, 2006 at the Scottsville Town Council Chambers in Scottsville starting at 7 PM.

The Hardware River watershed occupies portions of Albemarle and Fluvanna Counties (Figure 1) and is approximately 10 miles south of Charlottesville, Virginia and is tributary of the James River. Hardware River has two bacterial impairments. See the Hardware River Forum for updates and current information. The first Local Steering Committee meeting was held on November 8, 2006. Watershed characterization data was discussed and input is requested from stakeholders on the population information. Please download a copy of the updated handout from the LSC and provide feedback via the forum.

Figure 1. Hardware River Location

Hardware River and North Fork Hardware River have bacteria impairments (Figure 2). 

 Figure 2. Hardware River Impaired Segments

 Note: Land use has been updated based on input from LSC. See LCS handout for more information.

Land use in Hardware River is dominated by forested areas (77% of total area). pasture make up the next largest component (13%), followed by cropland (6%), and the remaining residential areas being a small portion (3%) of the total area. These were determined through automated analysis of satellite photography; if you feel these numbers may be in error, please head to the forums and post a comment to that effect! The total watershed area is approximately 88,200 acres. Land uses are shown in Figure 3. 

 Figure 3. Land uses in Hardware River

The sub-watersheds for Hardware River have been deliniated. In the TMDL plan development, the North Fork Hardware River will be considered seperately from the entire Hardware River basin (Figure 2). The portion of the Hardware River downstream from the North Fork will be refered to as the "Lower" Hardware River herein. The following figures show the sub-watershed boundaries and the areas of the Pervious Land Segments (PLS), which are the basic modeling unit. For the North Fork Hardware River, 24 sub-watersheds have been delinated (Figure 4). The major land use and PLS is forest, followed by pasture (Figure 5).

Figure 4. Sub-watershed boundaries and PLS areas for North Fork Hardware River

Figure 5. Sub-watershed boundaries and percentage of PLS for North Fork Hardware River

For the Lower Hardware River, 23 sub-watersheds have been delinated (Figure 6). The major land use and PLS is forest, followed by pasture (Figure 7).

Figure 6. Sub-watershed boundaries and PLS areas for Lower Hardware River

Figure 7. Sub-watershed boundaries and percentage of PLS forLower Hardware River