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Runoff is also paramount in the spring and summer, when thunderstorms bring heavy rain onto rooftops, parking lots, roads, driveways, or already saturated ground. Runoff makes its way into the Rappahannock River and down to the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean. Then there is the precipitation that recharges aquifers.
Aquifer recharge receives its emphasis in the fall and winter. Although evaporation still takes place during those months, vegetation has died back and thus there is not much competition from plant life for the water; and snow slows runoff. Wells thus receive their needed recharge.
Long term for the upper Rappahannock River basin, this fall-winter recharge amounts to about 10 inches per year, or 23 percent of the annual rainfall in this area. Without it, you have droughts.
Of the various routes precipitation can follow, runoff is the most visible and that is what we want to talk about. Runoff is most obvious during and after a thunderstorm. Streets may be covered with water. Parking lots may look like lakes. Drainage ditches may be filled to capacity.
Currently, runoff at Clevenger’s Corner is primarily from a small number of commercial roofs, parking
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