Charlottesville, VA… December 18, 2025… The Rivanna Water & Sewer Authority’s (RWSA) Board of Directors has approved the award of the South Fork Rivanna Reservoir (SFRR) to Ragged Mountain Reservoir (RMR) Pipeline, Pump Station, and Intake Construction Project. The project was awarded to Garney Companies, Inc. from Fairfax, Virginia, in the amount of $87,633,497.

SFRR to RMR Pipeline Map

The award marks the final construction project of the Community Water Supply Plan, a ten-year planning effort that was initiated after the region experienced a drought of record in 2002. Approved in 2012, the plan called for a significant investment in our community’s drinking water infrastructure to include increasing the storage capacities of a reservoir, replacing and installing new raw water pipelines, and renovating two of the urban area’s water treatment plants. The plan was crafted regionally by City Council and Albemarle County Board of Supervisors with input from many community groups.

The SFRR to RMR Pipeline, Pump Station, and Intake Construction Project includes 6.5 miles of 36″ raw water pipe that will be installed from the South Fork Rivanna Reservoir to the Birdwood Golf Course and a new raw water intake and pump station that will be built near the South Fork Rivanna Dam.

The new raw water pipe, pump station, and intake facility will provide the ability for RWSA’s water treatment plants to pull from either reservoir and to transfer water between each reservoir. The infrastructure upgrade will allow RWSA to fully utilize South Fork Rivanna Reservoir’s 259 square mile watershed and Ragged Mountain Reservoir’s 2.1* billion gallon water storage capacity.

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RWSA manages five reservoirs in Albemarle County. The shaded areas represent the watersheds that supply drinking water to the region.
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The South Fork Rivanna Reservoir’s watershed effectively incudes the Sugar Hollow Reservoir’s watershed. Together, they account for 99% of the urban area’s total watershed area.
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The Ragged Mountain Reservoir holds 63% of the Urban Water System’s reserves.

The new pump station will have the capacity to pump 41 million gallons of water per day. Supporting water infrastructure allows for the potential to transfer 25 million gallons of water per day from the South Fork Rivanna Reservoir to the Ragged Mountain Reservoir, including up to 10 million gallons of water per day from the South Fork Rivanna Reservoir to the Observatory Water Treatment Plant, and 16 million gallons of water per day to the South Rivanna Water Treatment Plant.

Construction on the project is expected to begin early next year with an anticipated completion in 2030.

Pump Station and Intake
An architectural rendering of the new pump station. The new pump station will sit slightly upstream from the South Rivanna Dam.

*The current Ragged Mountain Reservoir’s Pool Fill Project will increase the reservoir’s capacity from 1.4 billion gallons to 2.1 billion gallons.

System-Wide Water Infrastructure Upgrades

The SFRR to RMR Pipeline, Pump Station, and Intake Project. is one of several projects currently under construction by RWSA. Over the next five years, RWSA will invest more than $300 million to enhance our urban raw water storage capabilities, raw water transmission pipelines, and transmission pipelines for finished water (treated drinking water). The purpose of these projects is to improve the capacity, redundancy, and resiliency of our drinking water systems. Doing so will help prevent unplanned outages and ensure residents have a constant, reliable, clean supply of water at their tap.

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  1. New Earthen Dam – In 2014, RWSA completed building a new dam at the Ragged Mountain Reservoir.
  2. Water Treatment Plant Improvements – Recent facility renovations and upgrades have increased treatment capacity.
  3. Ragged Mountain Reservoir Pool Fill Project – RWSA will fully utilize the reservoir’s storage capacity by adding 700 million gallons of water for a total capacity of 2.1 billion gallons.
  4. Ragged Mountain Reservoir to Observatory Water Treatment Plant Raw Water Line and Pump Station – A new 36” transmission pipe is replacing two smaller 70 and 100-year-old transmission pipes.
  5. South Rivanna River Crossing – A large 24” finished water transmission pipe is being added to better support the northern area in Albemarle County.
  6. Central Water Line – The Central Water Line will provide a high-flow, large-diameter finished water transmission pipe that will better connect RWSA’s treatment facilities, transmission pipes, water storage tanks, and water distribution piping in the urban area.
  7. South Fork Rivanna Reservoir to Ragged Mountain Reservoir Raw Water Pipeline, Pump Station, and Intake – The new pipeline and pump station will allow RWSA to fully utilize the South Fork Rivanna Reservoir’s watershed and Ragged Mountain Reservoir’s storage capacity. It will also allow both water treatment plants to pull water from either reservoir.