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A TMDL was developed using the reference watershed approach to address the benthic impairment identified in Linville Creek, Rockingham County, Virginia. A stressor analysis performed on existing monitoring data identified sediment as the major stressor for Linville Creek. The Upper Opequon Creek was selected as the TMDL reference watershed from a list of watersheds around the state with benthic monitoring data and a non-impaired status. The selection was based on the comparability of land use distribution, ecological, and sedimentgenerating characteristics with those of the Linville Creek watershed. Modeling was performed with a modified version of the GWLF model. Model inputs were developed for both watersheds considering surface runoff, stream bank and channel erosion, and point sources of sediment. Model simulations were performed over a 10-year period to generate average annual sediment loads from all sources within each watershed. The TMDL was defined as the average annual unit-area sediment load in the TMDL reference watershed times the area of the Linville Creek watershed. Allocation scenarios were developed using reductions from agriculture and from channel erosion sources related to livestock stream access.