Charlottesville, VA… September 30, 2025… Rivanna Water & Sewer Authority (RWSA) is scheduled to begin work on the Ragged Mountain Pool Fill Project next week.

Beginning October 6, Reservoir Road will be closed to public travel from Holiday Trails Lane to the upper parking lot. Trails located on the eastern side of the reservoir will remain open and accessible during this period. Recreational users will have access to the trails via the lower parking lot on Reservoir Road. As construction activities progress, further intermittent trail closures are anticipated. These closures are meant to protect individuals from potential construction hazards. Posted trail signage will provide notice of the closures. Recreational fishing will be permitted on designated shorelines during this period. However, watercraft, including but not limited to kayaks, canoes, and paddleboards, will be prohibited. The project will be closely coordinated with the Charlottesville Department of Parks and Recreation to complete the work and restore public access to the trails as quickly as possible.

Trail Map ClosuresBackground

The current Ragged Mountain Reservoir Earthen Dam was previously constructed to support a pool elevation of 683 feet. Based on the 2012 Ragged Mountain Dam Project Agreement, the reservoir was filled to a pool elevation of 671 feet. In December 2023, the Charlottesville City Council, the Albemarle County Service Authority Board of Directors, and the RWSA Board of Directors approved an amendment to the agreement that allows RWSA to fully utilize the reservoir’s storage capacity. The pool level will rise 12 feet and add 700 million gallons of water.

Tree Clearing Diagram

To accommodate the new pool level, tree and vegetation clearing will occur around the reservoir. Other construction activities include modifications to the intake tower and improvements to dam drainage. No elevation modifications are required at the dam or the spillway.

Construction Schedule

  • October 6, 2025: Contractor will begin to mobilize equipment to the upper parking lot at the end of Reservoir Rd. Reservoir Rd north of Holiday Trails Ln will be closed to public access. Restrictions on western trails and water access go into effect.
  • November 15, 2025: Tree felling efforts begin. Tree felling efforts are permitted from November 15 to March 31 to coincide with the Northern Long-eared Bat inactive season. Trees and vegetation unsuitable for harvesting will be burned on-site in burn boxes.
  • February 14, 2026: Burning operations will stop to coincide with Albemarle County’s open burn ordinances.
  • March 31, 2026: Tree felling efforts will cease. The contractor will continue to remove fallen trees.
  • May 1, 2026: Burning operations will resume.
  • December 31, 2026: Tentative scheduled completion of construction activities. All trails to fully reopen.
  • January 1, 2027: RWSA begins filling the reservoir to its new elevation height if there is 30 million gallons per day spilling from the Sugar Hollow Reservoir.

Construction Activities

Trees harvested from the site will be transported across the reservoir by barge. Trucks will transport the trees from the barge to an off-site milling facility. Barging activities will minimize potential impacts to trails around the reservoir by avoiding the need to build temporary access roads. Vegetation unsuitable for harvesting will be burned on-site in burn boxes. These burn boxes utilize forced air to promote clean and efficient burning, thereby reducing the amount of smoke emitted.

System-Wide Water Infrastructure Upgrades

The Ragged Mountain Pool Fill 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.

Water Distribution Network No Title or Descriptors

  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 Line – The new line 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 or both reservoirs.