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Watershed Forestry

Healthy Forests Provide for Water Quality and Quantity

No matter where you are in the world, you are always in a watershed. A watershed is simply an area of land that separates waters flowing to different bodies of water. To figure out which watershed you are in, ask yourself…if a raindrop fell right here, where would it end up? In Virginia, you may find that raindrop traveling all the way to the Chesapeake Bay, the Mississippi River, the Atlantic Ocean or the Albemarle-Pamlico Sound.

As water travels through a watershed, it is influenced by the land around it. Even the smallest headwater streams play a role in the quality of our water, which in turn influences our drinking water, fisheries, recreational opportunities, wildlife and much more. Forests are the single best land use for ensuring clean water. More than 50% of Virginia’s freshwater resources originate from the forests that cover close to two-thirds of the state. In addition to providing clean water, forests also absorb rainfall, refill groundwater aquifers, slow and filter stormwater runoff, reduce floods, and maintain watershed stability and resilience.

These water supply benefits come from all forests, whether young or old, pine or hardwood. Sediment, nutrients and other pollutants, including bacteria and other pathogens, are almost always higher from other land uses, especially in urban areas. Once forests are established, they continue to provide clean and reliable sources of water for decades. Fortunately, they can also be managed for a variety of products and priorities (e.g., timber, wildlife and recreation) without negatively impacting water resources. Foresters use a variety of techniques, called best management practices (BMPs), that allow roads, hiking trails, prescribed fire, timber harvesting and other management activities to be conducted without impacting water resources.

Protecting and increasing the forest cover in both rural and urban watersheds, particularly along rivers, streams and other bodies of water, is key to improving the health of the many impaired waterways, such as the Chesapeake Bay. By increasing the acres of riparian buffers, increasing tree canopy through afforestation and increasing urban tree canopy, the watershed forestry program aims to improve the water quality and ensure that Virginia has healthy waterways now and in the future.


Your local DOF forester can assist you with incorporating proper BMPs to protect water quality during the implementation of forest management activities on your property, as well as provide guidance about planting riparian forest buffers.

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Your local DOF forester can help guide you through the timber sale process and assist you with incorporating proper BMPs to protect water quality during the implementation of a forestry practice on your property, as well as provide guidance about planting riparian forest buffers. Contact your local DOF forester.

For more information or questions, e-mail us or use our contact form.