diff --git a/go/vt/vtorc/inst/shard_dao.go b/go/vt/vtorc/inst/shard_dao.go
index a90eed0f509..5501ba5d7b9 100644
--- a/go/vt/vtorc/inst/shard_dao.go
+++ b/go/vt/vtorc/inst/shard_dao.go
@@ -29,6 +29,30 @@ import (
 // ErrShardNotFound is a fixed error message used when a shard is not found in the database.
 var ErrShardNotFound = errors.New("shard not found")
 
+// ReadShardNames reads the names of vitess shards for a single keyspace.
+func ReadShardNames(keyspaceName string) (shardNames []string, err error) {
+	shardNames = make([]string, 0)
+	query := `select shard from vitess_shard where keyspace = ?`
+	args := sqlutils.Args(keyspaceName)
+	err = db.QueryVTOrc(query, args, func(row sqlutils.RowMap) error {
+		shardNames = append(shardNames, row.GetString("shard"))
+		return nil
+	})
+	return shardNames, err
+}
+
+// ReadAllShardNames reads the names of all vitess shards by keyspace.
+func ReadAllShardNames() (shardNames map[string][]string, err error) {
+	shardNames = make(map[string][]string)
+	query := `select keyspace, shard from vitess_shard`
+	err = db.QueryVTOrc(query, nil, func(row sqlutils.RowMap) error {
+		ks := row.GetString("keyspace")
+		shardNames[ks] = append(shardNames[ks], row.GetString("shard"))
+		return nil
+	})
+	return shardNames, err
+}
+
 // ReadShardPrimaryInformation reads the vitess shard record and gets the shard primary alias and timestamp.
 func ReadShardPrimaryInformation(keyspaceName, shardName string) (primaryAlias string, primaryTimestamp string, err error) {
 	if err = topo.ValidateKeyspaceName(keyspaceName); err != nil {
@@ -95,3 +119,16 @@ func getShardPrimaryTermStartTimeString(shard *topo.ShardInfo) string {
 	}
 	return protoutil.TimeFromProto(shard.PrimaryTermStartTime).UTC().String()
 }
+
+// DeleteShard deletes a shard using a keyspace and shard name.
+func DeleteShard(keyspace, shard string) error {
+	_, err := db.ExecVTOrc(`DELETE FROM
+			vitess_shard
+		WHERE
+			keyspace = ?
+			AND shard = ?`,
+		keyspace,
+		shard,
+	)
+	return err
+}
diff --git a/go/vt/vtorc/inst/shard_dao_test.go b/go/vt/vtorc/inst/shard_dao_test.go
index 3357bd2ee36..8b096889851 100644
--- a/go/vt/vtorc/inst/shard_dao_test.go
+++ b/go/vt/vtorc/inst/shard_dao_test.go
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ import (
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/vt/vtorc/db"
 )
 
-func TestSaveAndReadShard(t *testing.T) {
+func TestSaveReadAndDeleteShard(t *testing.T) {
 	// Clear the database after the test. The easiest way to do that is to run all the initialization commands again.
 	defer func() {
 		db.ClearVTOrcDatabase()
@@ -94,6 +94,7 @@ func TestSaveAndReadShard(t *testing.T) {
 				require.NoError(t, err)
 			}
 
+			// ReadShardPrimaryInformation
 			shardPrimaryAlias, primaryTimestamp, err := ReadShardPrimaryInformation(tt.keyspaceName, tt.shardName)
 			if tt.err != "" {
 				require.EqualError(t, err, tt.err)
@@ -102,6 +103,16 @@ func TestSaveAndReadShard(t *testing.T) {
 			require.NoError(t, err)
 			require.EqualValues(t, tt.primaryAliasWanted, shardPrimaryAlias)
 			require.EqualValues(t, tt.primaryTimestampWanted, primaryTimestamp)
+
+			// ReadShardNames
+			shardNames, err := ReadShardNames(tt.keyspaceName)
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			require.Equal(t, []string{tt.shardName}, shardNames)
+
+			// DeleteShard
+			require.NoError(t, DeleteShard(tt.keyspaceName, tt.shardName))
+			_, _, err = ReadShardPrimaryInformation(tt.keyspaceName, tt.shardName)
+			require.EqualError(t, err, ErrShardNotFound.Error())
 		})
 	}
 }
diff --git a/go/vt/vtorc/logic/keyspace_shard_discovery.go b/go/vt/vtorc/logic/keyspace_shard_discovery.go
index 8115e614418..971b6c468f9 100644
--- a/go/vt/vtorc/logic/keyspace_shard_discovery.go
+++ b/go/vt/vtorc/logic/keyspace_shard_discovery.go
@@ -22,14 +22,43 @@ import (
 
 	"golang.org/x/exp/maps"
 
+	"vitess.io/vitess/go/stats"
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/vt/log"
-
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/vt/topo"
+	"vitess.io/vitess/go/vt/topo/topoproto"
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/vt/vtorc/inst"
 )
 
+var statsShardsWatched = stats.NewGaugesFuncWithMultiLabels("ShardsWatched",
+	"Keyspace/shards currently watched",
+	[]string{"Keyspace", "Shard"},
+	getShardsWatchedStats)
+
+// getShardsWatchedStats returns the keyspace/shards watched in a format for stats.
+func getShardsWatchedStats() map[string]int64 {
+	shardsWatched := make(map[string]int64)
+	allShardNames, err := inst.ReadAllShardNames()
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Errorf("Failed to read all shard names: %+v", err)
+		return shardsWatched
+	}
+	for ks, shards := range allShardNames {
+		for _, shard := range shards {
+			shardsWatched[ks+"."+shard] = 1
+		}
+	}
+	return shardsWatched
+}
+
+// refreshAllKeyspacesAndShardsMu ensures RefreshAllKeyspacesAndShards
+// is not executed concurrently.
+var refreshAllKeyspacesAndShardsMu sync.Mutex
+
 // RefreshAllKeyspacesAndShards reloads the keyspace and shard information for the keyspaces that vtorc is concerned with.
 func RefreshAllKeyspacesAndShards(ctx context.Context) error {
+	refreshAllKeyspacesAndShardsMu.Lock()
+	defer refreshAllKeyspacesAndShardsMu.Unlock()
+
 	var keyspaces []string
 	if len(shardsToWatch) == 0 { // all known keyspaces
 		ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(ctx, topo.RemoteOperationTimeout)
@@ -109,6 +138,7 @@ func refreshKeyspaceHelper(ctx context.Context, keyspaceName string) error {
 
 // refreshAllShards refreshes all the shard records in the given keyspace.
 func refreshAllShards(ctx context.Context, keyspaceName string) error {
+	// get all shards for keyspace name.
 	shardInfos, err := ts.FindAllShardsInKeyspace(ctx, keyspaceName, &topo.FindAllShardsInKeyspaceOptions{
 		// Fetch shard records concurrently to speed up discovery. A typical
 		// Vitess cluster will have 1-3 vtorc instances deployed, so there is
@@ -119,13 +149,35 @@ func refreshAllShards(ctx context.Context, keyspaceName string) error {
 		log.Error(err)
 		return err
 	}
+	savedShards := make(map[string]bool)
 	for _, shardInfo := range shardInfos {
 		err = inst.SaveShard(shardInfo)
 		if err != nil {
 			log.Error(err)
 			return err
 		}
+		savedShards[shardInfo.ShardName()] = true
 	}
+
+	// delete shards that were not returned by ts.FindAllShardsInKeyspace(...),
+	// indicating they are stale.
+	shards, err := inst.ReadShardNames(keyspaceName)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	for _, shard := range shards {
+		if savedShards[shard] {
+			continue
+		}
+		shardName := topoproto.KeyspaceShardString(keyspaceName, shard)
+		log.Infof("Forgetting shard: %s", shardName)
+		err = inst.DeleteShard(keyspaceName, shard)
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Errorf("Failed to delete shard %s: %+v", shardName, err)
+			return err
+		}
+	}
+
 	return nil
 }