Publication Date
April 2018
Abstract
Boiling Spring rises in the bed of the Jackson River about 0.5 km (0.3 mi) downstream of the USGS gaging station on the Jackson River near Bacova, Virginia. Five tracer tests to the spring have been conducted on sinking upstream tributaries to the Jackson River. The longest trace was 12.5 km (7.75 mi) from Muddy Run with the dye injected on the east side of the Cobbler Mountain Anticline. Additional traces to Boiling Spring are from Muddy Run on the west side of the anticline, Chimney Run, Creek Bed Cave, and Warm Springs Run. Travel times were greater than one mile per day. The gaging station is missing about one third of the total flow under low flow conditions. Discharge measured in October 2005 was 0.36 m3/s (12.8 cfs) from the spring, and 0.77 m3/s (27.0 cfs) at the Bacova gaging station. The ungaged discharge is probably not a significant part of the total flow at higher river levels. However, the annual runoff for the Jackson River station at Bacova—with a drainage area of 409 km2 (158 mi2)—is 371 mm (14.6 in) per year, well below the 480 mm (18.9 in) per year for the nearby Bullpasture River at Williamsville that has a smaller drainage area of 285 km2 (110 mi2).
DOI
https://doi.org/10.5038/9780991000982.1054
An Unusual Spring in the Jackson River, Bath County, Virginia
Boiling Spring rises in the bed of the Jackson River about 0.5 km (0.3 mi) downstream of the USGS gaging station on the Jackson River near Bacova, Virginia. Five tracer tests to the spring have been conducted on sinking upstream tributaries to the Jackson River. The longest trace was 12.5 km (7.75 mi) from Muddy Run with the dye injected on the east side of the Cobbler Mountain Anticline. Additional traces to Boiling Spring are from Muddy Run on the west side of the anticline, Chimney Run, Creek Bed Cave, and Warm Springs Run. Travel times were greater than one mile per day. The gaging station is missing about one third of the total flow under low flow conditions. Discharge measured in October 2005 was 0.36 m3/s (12.8 cfs) from the spring, and 0.77 m3/s (27.0 cfs) at the Bacova gaging station. The ungaged discharge is probably not a significant part of the total flow at higher river levels. However, the annual runoff for the Jackson River station at Bacova—with a drainage area of 409 km2 (158 mi2)—is 371 mm (14.6 in) per year, well below the 480 mm (18.9 in) per year for the nearby Bullpasture River at Williamsville that has a smaller drainage area of 285 km2 (110 mi2).
