Replacing 235 Years of Dam Good Service - The New Ragged Mountain Dam

In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, raw water storage for the Charlottesville, Virginia region was provided by the Upper Ragged Mountain Dam and reservoir that was constructed in 1885. In 1908, the Lower Ragged Mountain Dam, located 2,000 feet downstream of the Upper Ragged Mountain Dam, was completed. Because the combined watershed for the two reservoirs is less than two square miles, a pipeline from the Sugar Hollow reservoir to the Ragged Mountain reservoirs was constructed in the 1920’s to increase the reliable yield and reduce the time to refill the Ragged Mountain reservoirs. These two reservoirs have provided a combined 235 years of service and are now being replaced.
In the early1970’s, the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority (RWSA), a regional water and wastewater wholesale water authority, was formed. Later in the decade, as part of the National Dam Safety Program, inspections found deficiencies with each of the Ragged Mountain structures. In an effort to meet future water needs, the Authority commissioned raw water analyses and over the years pursued several alternatives. In the mid 2000’s, a comprehensive study found that raising the pool elevation of the lower reservoir 42 feet would provide the necessary raw water storage for the planned development over the next half century.