A stretch of Virginia’s Rapidan River spent years carrying an unwelcome designation. The state considered its water quality unsuitable for recreational use because of bacteria. Nearly two decades later, that designation is gone from the affected section. Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality found enough improvement to remove the segment from its impaired-waters list.
The change involved a 2.59-mile section known as Rapidan River #4. It runs from the area near Wilderness Run downstream to Middle Run. The improvement did not come from one dramatic cleanup project or a single discovery. Instead, years of pollution-control work were followed by monitoring that showed the river had finally improved.
