Louisiana Waterthrushes are infrequently studied riparian obligates in the southeastern U.S., and riparian habitats are threatened ecosystems in the fast‑developing Southern Piedmont.  We studied breeding waterthrushes in 13 headwater drainages of the Georgia Piedmont from 2002‑2005.  During site selection, we surveyed over 60 streams and found that waterthrushes were absent from streams with forest canopies narrower than 20 m on each side in residential areas.  Waterthrushes, however, bred along streams in landscapes dominated by silviculture, pastures, or residential developments, provided that there were long (>500m) sections of wide (>20 m) riparian buffers.  Along these streams, we monitored 175 active waterthrush nests, of which 111 fledged between 1 and 5 young.  During a drought in 2002, steep drainages with gravel‑dominated riffles had higher juvenile waterthrush densities than drainages with sand‑dominated riffles.  In 2003, rainfall was at all‑time record highs, and rainfall was moderate in 2004 and 2005.  During these wetter years, some pairs raised two broods successfully within both forested and urbanized drainages.  Using an individual-based model to simulate seasonal reproduction, we discovered that reproduction is most sensitive to variation in survival of nests and apparent survival of fledged young.  Multiple regression models including land use, habitat, and climatic variables, however, failed to predict consistently the variation in survival of nests and apparent survival of fledglings.  Nest survival tended to decrease for nests that experienced higher amounts of rainfall, but this remains uncertain.  While it is clear that waterthrushes require buffered streams for nesting, a better understanding of the factors driving survival of both juvenile and adult waterthrushes is needed before specific management actions can be implemented to ensure their persistence in human-dominated landscapes of the Piedmont.