Watershed Special Characteristics

 The York River is the 5th largest tributary by flow and watershed area in the Chesapeake Bay. The river’s watershed area drains from the Piedmont Region and into the Coastal Plains Region into the Chesapeake Bay. The watershed covers around 2,700 square miles. The two main branches of the watershed are the Mattaponi and Pamunkey Rivers names after the two Native American tribes that utilized the rivers for food and travel. The Mattaponi and Pamunkey tribes have the oldest reservations in the country along the riverbanks .The York River is not only rich in history and culture but also in environmental biodiversity. The York River Watershed is a rare environment where freshwater intersects with saltwater creating a rich habitat for marine organisms and plant life. "The York River supports commercially harvested shellfish and finfish for spawning and nursery grounds as well as numerous endangered or threatened wildlife, plant and bird species,"(VIMS, 2022).

The York River Watershed is utilized heavily by recreational hunters, fisherman, photographers, and artists due to its extensive recreational potential and natural aesthetic. The York River Watershed is also heavily used for research with the Virginia Institute for Marine Science being located along the river. Current funded research in the river includes oyster restoration. The river hosts oyster reef and seagrass meadows, that serve as important habitat, especially to juvenile Bay organisms. Under the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement, the 10 Tributaries Initiative has selected the York river as an oyster restoration area. Restoration in the York is focused on the lower portion of the river. The Sustainable Fisheries Goal Implementation Team’s most recent York oyster restoration update, there were 2 existing acres of reef pre-restoration, 53 fully restored acres under the initiative, 10 of which were restored in 2021 alone—and this is all out of a total 200-acre goal, as indicated by the image below.

Other research in the York River watershed include eelgrass population decline and the effects on commercial fisheries, Oyster Disease Monitoring Program, Estimating Young-of-Year American Eel and striped Abundance in the Virginia Portion of Chesapeake Bay, and Juvenile Fish and Blue crab trawl survey (VIMS, 2022). The special characteristics for the watershed is the research potential of the area for freshwater, saltwater, and estuarine environments all in one watershed.