The Upper James River, and its tributaries, covers a vast area from the Fall Line near Richmond to its headwaters in the Blue Ridge Mountains to near the West Virginia state line. This large area of water and land is under the care of the Upper James Riverkeeper, Pat Calvert, the citizen watcher and advocate for a clean James River.  Yet, this avid fisherman has quite a task on his hands as the only Riverkeeper for the whole area. Calvert depends on a group of volunteers, called RiverRats, who provide additional eyes for the Upper James Riverkeeper.

The RiverRats help to enlarge the Upper James River Riverkeeper program. This important citizen-based water-quality program is “a network of organizations across the world, an alliance of waterkeepers” that watch over all bodies of water from streams to bays. Riverkeepers advocate that people have a right to clean waterways that are fishable and suitable for drinking. 

Those interested in joining the RiverRats will begin their training starting in February and soon after will begin their work of patrolling “the James River and its tributaries and to take action to protect and restore the entire watershed,” according a recent advertisement on the James River Association’s website.

Calvert works with the James River Association. He patrols the Upper James, while his counterpart on the Lower James in the Tidal areas from Williamsburg to Norfolk keeps watch on the waters that empty into the Chesapeake Bay. Calvert has been a RiverKeeper since 2011 and has led the Upper James division of the RiverRats program, which also began just a year ago.

RiverRats are not just doing their work in this part of the state. 

“We have about 45-50 individual RiverRats up and down the James River and (its) tributaries of the James from Bath County near the West Virginia line down to the mouth of James River near Hampton,” states Calvert.

Many of the people that join the group, according to Calvert, are already heavily involved in the care of local waterways, and many of them reside in Fluvanna, Albemarle and Buckingham counties and other Upper James River centered localities where they either live near water or enjoy water-based activities. The program is also aimed toward those people that want to be more connected to the water. The RiverRats program provides all of the training and the equipment needed to help in patrolling and taking the necessary action to make sure any problems, such as pollution or any other threats to water quality, are reported to the correct authorities. The group also helps to show those that want to use the local waterways how to use them safely. The RiverRats volunteers exist to assist the two Riverkeepers as they cannot do it alone. 

“We really rely on these people,” says Calvert. “If it weren’t for RiverRats, many things would go unnoticed.” 

The RiverRats are committed to make at least three patrols in one calendar year and “one personally designed action project.”

An example of what the RiverRats would document as a problem on a local waterway just recently happened in Scottsville. A local homeowner who lived on the water noticed a problem with trash in Mink Creek, a waterway that flows through the town and flushes into the James. Calvert was contacted about helping to create an educational program about how to keep water coming out of Scottsville free of trash, thus keeping the same garbage from getting into the James and eventually into the Chesapeake Bay.

The first training session to become a RiverRat will be held on Saturday, Feb. 25, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Victory Hall on 401 Valley St. in Scottsville. If you are interested in being trained, contact the James River Association at (804) 788-8811, ext. 205, or by email at or email Calvert directly about the program at . That email address can also be used to let Calvert know about any problems observed on the Upper James which may affect water quality.