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Cushaw Dam, Virginia
Cushaw Dam on the James in Virginia.
Open in BirdTrout37.593374, -79.382943 · Amherst County · NID VA009001. Tap the map to open this water in the live app.
What the runs do here
James carries no anadromous run on our corridor map, so this page makes no claim about salmon or steelhead at this dam. What it sits on is coldwater — resident trout water — and the section below says which classification says so.
The structure
- Owner
- Cushaw Hydro LLC Private
- Purpose
- Hydroelectric, Fish and Wildlife Pond, Recreation
- Completed
- 1930
- Type
- Gravity
- Height
- 26 ft
- Length
- 1716 ft
- Spillway
- Uncontrolled, 1550 ft wide
- Storage
- 380 acre-ft · 138 acre pool
- Drainage
- 2,960 sq mi
- Condition
- Satisfactory · Low hazard potential
- Status
- Normal Operations
From the National Inventory of Dams (USACE). Hazard potential is a downstream-consequence classification, not a statement about the structure's condition.
The water above and below
- Cashaw Creek 0.17 mi from the dam · Class VI · stocked holdover (VDWR)
- Rocky Row Run 0.79 mi from the dam · Class VI · stocked holdover (VDWR)
Coldwater designation is the state's own classification. A dam sits on one river and this list is every designated reach within a mile and a half of it, so a tributary mouth shows up here too.
Water right now
| Gauge | Distance | Temp | Flow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Poague Run near Glasgow, VA | 6.6 mi | — | — |
| James River at Holcomb Rock, VA | 9.2 mi | — | 551 cfs |
| Maury River near Buena Vista, VA | 11.7 mi | — | 41 cfs |
Live from USGS. A gauge miles away is a gauge miles away — the distance column is there so you can discount it. A hydro dam's releases move the flow below it on a schedule the gauge sees and this page does not. 3 of the gauges above are not sending water temperature at all — a stopped gauge still answers with the last value it ever sent and nothing to say so, so those rows carry a modelled figure where one can be fitted, marked as modelled, and a dash where it cannot.
Getting to it
Public access sites near the dam, straight-line distance. A dam itself is private property unless its owner says otherwise; these are the places the state lists as open.
Fly shops nearby
- Walkabout Outfitters 13.6 mi
- Angler's Lane 16.5 mi · Forest
- Otterback Outfitters 18.1 mi · Lynchburg · +1 434 944 5375
- Casta Line Trout Farms 30.6 mi
- Bob's Up The Creek Outfitters 31.3 mi