Flood and Drought Report on the Stroubles Creek Watershed

 

Floods Report

The Blacksburg township, including Stroubles Creek, has a documented history of both drought and flood events, which are connected to changes in climate patterns and land use. Past droughts and floods in the Blacksburg and Stroubles Creek areas have shaped both the environment and urban planning strategies. Meanwhile, local and national agencies have established monitoring systems using streamflow gauges to track water conditions and hazards.

Until the 1900s, urbanization was not a significant issue within the Stroubles Creek watershed region due to its low population density, limited university buildings, and a small downtown area (Parece et al., 2010).  However, over time, the watershed has changed land use due to infrastructural developments and agricultural activities in and around the Virginia Tech campus. This partly contributed to the establishment of the Blacksburg Weather Forecast Office (WFO) in 1994 as part of the National Weather Service (Robert & Jackson, 2009). Major floods in Blacksburg and the Stroubles Creek watershed have been linked to the increased urbanization and impervious surfaces in the region, resulting in high stormwater runoff that contributes to flooding (Parece et al., 2010).

The area around Stroubles Creek in Blacksburg falls within the zip code  24060. Using the First Street Climate Risk gauge (24060, VA Flood Map and Climate Risk Report, n.d.), the region is denoted as a moderate risk of flooding over the next 30 years. Although 1,645 properties in 24060 have a risk of flooding over the next 30 years. This represents 10.1% of all properties in 24060.

 

Photo source: First Street, https://firststreet.org/zip/24060-va/24060_fsid/flood?sso=google

·       The most notable flood occurred in 1995. This was a record-breaking rainfall that accompanied Hurricane Diane in August. Although most of the impact was felt in the northeastern United States, Virginia, and the Blacksburg region also experienced significant flooding on August 18 and 19 due to the sequence of storms (Petersen, 1995). These historical events have prompted the Town of Blacksburg and Virginia Tech to recognize the risks associated with both hazards and respond with updated stormwater planning and stream restoration initiatives, such as the New River Valley Hazard Mitigation Plan and the Stroubles Creek Stream Restoration (New River Valley, n.d.; Wynn et al., 2010).

Overall, the Blacksburg region has experienced a steady rise in accumulated precipitation from 1995 to 2025, as seen in the graph below. This means the area has a reliable water availability to support agriculture, ecosystems, and groundwater discharge. This may suggest a lower possibility of droughts in the region. 

Source: NWS, https://www.weather.gov/wrh/Climate?wfo=rnk

Droughts Report

The 1930s and early 2000s statewide droughts also affected streamflow levels and groundwater supply in the Blacksburg and Stroubles Creek watershed region (Virginia Places, n.d.).

Droughts are costly. After adjusting for inflation, the 1930 drought remains the most expensive natural disaster in Virginia's records, totaling nearly $1 billion (Patrick, 2002). 

The town of Blacksburg has an active USGS streamflow gauge located on Stroubles Creek near Prices Fork, VA (“Stroubles Creek at RT 657 Near Prices Fork, VA”, station USGS-03171215). This gauge provides real-time monitoring data on water levels and stream discharge relevant to flood events (USGS, n.d.).

In addition, Faculty at the Center for Watershed Studies have adopted Stroubles Creek as an outdoor laboratory and have equipped it with a rain gauge network, a stream gauge, floodplain piezometers, three monitoring bridges, and a camera with a radio transmitter (Wynn et al., 2010).  The long-term objective is to have real-time water quality data and images available on the website for educational and outreach purposes. The Office of Sustainability at Virginia has a Streamkeepers program, where students volunteer to conduct water quality tests on designated parts of the Stroubles Creek watershed periodically. 

Virginia Tech students and Faculty within the Biological Systems Engineering department spearheaded and completed a stream restoration project in the downstream of the Stroubles in May 2010. The project aimed to mitigate the impacts of increased runoff from upstream areas resulting from extensive urban development. Moreover, the project was also intended to produce water-quality benefits across the Commonwealth (Wynn et al., 2010). 

Photo of students planting streambank on the inset floodplain

Photo credit: (Wynn et al., 2010)

References

First Street. (n.d.). 24060, VA Flood Map and Climate Risk Report. Firststreet.Org. Retrieved October 4, 2025, from https://firststreet.org/

National Weather Service, N. (n.d.). Climate. NOAA’s National Weather Service. Retrieved October 4, 2025, from https://www.weather.gov/wrh/Climate?wfo=rnk

New River Valley. (n.d.). NRV Hazard Mitigation Plan. Retrieved October 4, 2025, from chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://nrvrc.org/images/pdf/Hazard-Mitigation-Plan-2011.pdf

Parece, T., DiBetitto, S., Sprague, T., & Younos, T. (2010). The Stroubles Creek Watershed: History of Development and Chronicles of Research (No. VWRRC Special Report No. SR48-2010). chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/8c644f6b-c2cc-427a-9084-85bd1c2213ea/content

Patrick, M. (2002). Drought of 1930 Gives Us A Preview of the Drought Next Time | History of Loudoun County, Virginia. https://www.loudounhistory.org/history/drought-1930-history/

Petersen, M. (1995). Floods Of August 1955 In The Northeastern States. chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1956/0377/report.pdf

Robert, S., & Jackson, J. (2009). An Abbreviated Flash Flood/Flood Climatology (1994-2007) For The Wfo Blacksburg, Virginia County Warning Area (No. NWS ER-104). https://www.weather.gov/media/rnk/research/flash_flood_climatology.pdf#:~:text=four%20drought%20years%2C%20(1999%20through%202002)

USGS. (n.d.). Stroubles Creek at RT 657 Near Prices Fork, VA. Retrieved October 4, 2025, from http://waterdataui-production.wma.chs.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/USGS-03171215/

Virginia Places. (n.d.). Rain and Drought in Virginia. Retrieved October 4, 2025, from http://www.virginiaplaces.org/climate/drought.html

Wynn, T., Hession, C., & Yagow, G. (2010). Stroubles Creek Stream Restoration—Final Project Report (A Collaborative Effort between the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation and Virginia Tech Biological Systems Engineering Department). https://vtstreamlab.weebly.com/uploads/4/3/7/4/43749251/stroubles_restoration_wqif_final_report.pdf