Once considered one of the most polluted rivers in America, D.C.’s Anacostia River is rebounding slowly.
Everyone agrees that the river is in remarkably better shape than it was just a decade ago. But with threats like climate change and increased development and degrading infrastructure, vigilance is needed now more than ever.
Consider the devastating sewage pipe rupture in the Potomac River on Jan. 19, allowing hundreds of millions of gallons of raw sewage into the Potomac River. Even though the Anacostia River seems to have dodged serious damage from that, many advocates said that the incident shows just how swiftly situations can change in an already fragile environment.
“I would characterize the Anacostia River as a river in recovery,” said Chris Williams, president and CEO of the Anacostia Watershed Society.
“We’re seeing wildlife vote with their feet; we’re seeing beavers and otters come back to the river after they had disappeared for a long period of time. We’re seeing the river coming back to health, so there’s still a lot of work to be done.”
Much of that work includes keeping pressure on local governments to continue to invest in storm drain runoff protections.
“We need the District, Montgomery County and Prince George’s County to really reinvest and then invest more in stormwater regulation and stormwater control,” said Potomac Riverkeeper Trey Sherard. “That’s how all of this crap is getting into the river in the first place.”
Both Williams and Sherard credit D.C. Water’s Clean Rivers Program, a multibillion-dollar project to construct tunnels underneath the city, as a major reason for the improving health of the Anacostia River.
Two tunnels are already in place, creating extra capacity underground for when overflows occur during heavy rain events. Since the most recent tunnel went into service, officials said there hasn’t been a single combined sewer overflow in the last two-and-a-half years.
Last year, the Anacostia Watershed Society gave the river a grade of “D,” the second-highest grade since the organization began grading.
For Williams, healing the Anacostia isn’t just about healing a waterway; it’s about reconciling past social injustices. As the Anacostia became more and more polluted decades ago, marginalized communities began to relocate, displaced by gentrified neighborhoods west of the river.
And with the construction of Interstate 295, that put another wedge between the people who live east of the river and the rest of the city.
“The polluted Anacostia River became a barrier, separating those folks from the rest of the city,” said Williams.
“We want the river to come back to life as an ecological and environmental treasure. 鈥� But we also want it to come back to life for the benefit of those people so that those folks can benefit from the improvement of the very resource that has caused some suffering for them for so long.”
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