The Rappahannock Tribe is challenging a permit that would allow a Virginia county to draw up to 9 million gallons of water per day from the Rappahannock River, a portion of which includes the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail.
The tribe filed an appeal this week challenging the permit granted in November to Caroline County as part of the county's plans for a new municipal drinking water facility.
¨We raised concerns throughout the permitting process regarding inadequate consultation, impacts on cultural resources, violation of treaty rights, and violation of the tribe’s constitutional 'Rights of Nature' provisions,¨ Chief Anne Richardson said in a news release. ¨Despite these concerns, the permit was approved without meaningful tribal consultation.¨
There are also worries over the impacts to certain fish species, including endangered Atlantic sturgeon, and the discharge of treated wastewater into another nearby river.
The Rappahannock River is a focus of larger environmental concern and was included on the 2025 list of America's most endangered rivers. The group that compiles the annual listed cited "declining groundwater levels and a lack of comprehensive water supply planning amidst rapid population growth and expanding industries" as reasons why the river is threatened.
The waterway empties into Chesapeake Bay about 60 miles east of Richmond and is part of the Rappahannock River Valley National Wildlife Refuge. A bill to establish parts of the region as the Chesapeake Bay National Recreation Area was referred back to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources in April.
In 2022, the Rappahannock Tribe regained 465 acres along a four-mile stretch of sandstone bluffs on the north bank of the river. It's a place where Captain John Smith first encountered the tribe in 1608. The site, known as Fones Cliffs, long has been sacred to the tribe. Prior to contact with the English, the Rappahannock Tribe lived in at least three villages on the Cliffs.
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