Big Sandy River Basin Profile

The Big Sandy River Basin is located along the intersection of three states, Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia. Over half of the basin, 54%, is in Kentucky and 23% is in Virginia and West Virginia, respectively. The basin consists of four major hydrologic units, the Big Sandy, the Tug, the Upper Levisa, and the Lower Levisa. These four hydrologic units drain north to the Ohio River.

The basin encompasses one main physiographic province, the Cumberland Plateau and consists mainly of sandstone. Siltstone and shale with coal beds make up less than half the area. On the steep slopes, coal bearing sedimentary rocks, acid sandstone, siltstone and shale form much of the parent material (underlying rocks) that weathers into soil. Limestone and dolomite (limestone with magnesium) form the majority of parent material in the valleys along with pockets of sandstone and shale.

Land use in the river basin is mostly deciduous forest. Forest cover accounts for about 95.6% of the river basin. Cropland and pastures account for about 3.54% of the basin. The remaining land use categories make up less than 1% of the river basin area. They consist of strip mines and transitional areas (.77%), land for urban, industrial and utilities (.06%), and water (.03%)

Data Water quality monitoring data for the Big Sandy watershed (includes Tug Fork, Upper Levisa, Lower Levisa, and Big Sandy) from Kentucky and West Virginia can be accessed from the STORET database on EPA’s website http://www.epa.gov/storet/wtshd_summary.html. Water quality monitoring data for the Big Sandy watershed (includes Tug Fork and Upper Levisa) from Virginia can be assessed from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality’s website http://gisweb.deq.virginia.gov/monapp/mon_data_retrieval_app.html.