Barcroft-Dam-Fairfax-County-Virginia-22-Oct-2017

Holmes Run is a stream in the

Cameron Run Watershed The Cameron Run Watershed (CRW) is a highly urbanized, 44 square-mile watershed located in Northern Virginia. "The region is completely urbanized with nearly 95 percent of the watershed developed with mixed residential and commercial use". Seventy- ...

Northern Virginia Northern Virginia, locally referred to as NOVA or NoVA, comprises several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. It is a widespread region radiating westward and southward from Washington, D.C. Wit ...

. It runs through

Fairfax County Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. It is part of Northern Virginia and borders both the city of Alexandria, Virginia, Alexandria and ...

and the

City of Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

. It is a

first-order In mathematics and other formal sciences, first-order or first order most often means either: * "linear" (a polynomial of degree at most one), as in first-order approximation and other calculus uses, where it is contrasted with "polynomials of high ...

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drai ...

of the

Potomac River The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augu ...

. Its headwater is near the junction of

I-495 Interstate 495 (I-495) is the designation for several Interstate Highways in the United States, all of which are related to Interstate 95, listed from south to north: * The Capital Beltway, a beltway around Washington, D.C., running through Virgin ...

and

I-66 Interstate 66 (I-66) is an east–west Interstate Highway in the eastern United States. It runs from an interchange with I-81 near Middletown, Virginia, on its western end to an interchange with U.S. Route 29 (US 29) in Washing ...

. It crosses the region in a southeasterly direction for ten and a half miles until it merges with Backlick Run to form

Cameron Run Cameron Run is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed August 15, 2011 tributary stream of the Potomac River, located in the U.S. state of Virginia. A third-order stream, i ...

. Cameron Run becomes Hunting Creek and empties into the

just south of the

Woodrow Wilson Bridge The Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge (also known as the Woodrow Wilson Bridge or the Wilson Bridge) is a bascule bridge that spans the Potomac River between the independent city of Alexandria, Virginia, and Oxon Hill in Prince George's County, ...

. In 1913–1915 the Alexandria Water Company built a dam on Holmes Run in order to create Lake Barcroft as a potable water

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

for Alexandria. In the early post-war era, Alexandria began to exceed the capacity of Lake Barcroft and in 1949 discontinued its use in favor of Occoquan Reservoir.

Physical description

As an urban river, Holmes Run has in places been heavily channelized, but also significant portions have been developed as urban greenspace as Holmes Run Trail. Above Lake Barcroft its route makes up the border of West Falls Church and Annandale.

References

Bibliography

* * * {{authority control Rivers of Fairfax County, Virginia Rivers of Alexandria, Virginia Rivers of Virginia Tributaries of the Potomac River

Physical description

See also

References

Bibliography