The Forests to Faucets grant program, designed to assist landowners financially in their forestland management practices to the benefit of urban water consumers, has been expanded to include the entire Rivanna River Basin. Back in early 2010 the Virginia Department of Forestry received a $400,000 grant, funded by the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities. The money was originally earmarked for the South Fork Rivanna River Reservoir Watershed only, but with this expansion landowners in southern Albemarle and Fluvanna counties could also be eligible.

The Rivanna River Basin is home to approximately 120,000 people and the river system is the primary water source for some 82,000 residents of Charlottesville. Most of the riverfront land in the basin is privately owned. The area, public and private, is laced with streams and creeks that all qualify as tributaries of the Rivanna. Not only is the Rivanna River system a vital drinking water source but it is also a tributary of the James River, and ultimately the Chesapeake Bay.

Sediment due to runoff accumulation in the Rivanna River Reservoir in Charlottesville has been the topic of heated discussions at City Council meetings because councilors and residents are at odds over whether the lake should be dredged to increase capacity or a dam built.

According to state Sen. Creigh Deeds, “Landowners play a vital role in protecting water quality. The grant funding will help citizens in Albemarle and surrounding counties to adopt ecologically sound land management practices.”

The Forests to Faucets program is designed to maintain and expand forest cover and shoreline barriers in the watershed through financial incentives. Landowners who participate receive cash payments for increasing forest cover through afforestation on their properties. (Afforestation is the practice of planting new forests on lands that are open.) Afforestation payments are available for tracts of 5 acres or more. Other eligible practices include establishing riparian buffers, then fencing those buffers and planted areas to prevent livestock from polluting the watershed with waste effluence. Installed livestock fencing is eligible for payments of up to $3.50 per linear foot. Funding is also available for stabilizing forest harvest sites to prevent erosion. Landowners who have donated conservation easements that protect working forests may also be eligible for incentive payments.

Anyone wanting to learn more about the forest management practices being funded or program eligibility should contact Program Coordinator and VDOF Assistant Regional Forester David Powell at (434) 220-9179 or visit the project website at http://foreststofaucets.info/.