Even though the Anacostia has plenty of pollution problems, you can still see encouraging signs of biodiversity in the water and on the shores.

Above, a turtle suns itself on the shore of the Anacostia.

The watershed sustains many different species of birds.

Among the birds found in the Anacostia and its tributaries are Great Blue Herons, who fish in the shallow brackish waters along the shores and in wetland areas.

The mission of the Anacostia RIVERKEEPER® is to protect and restore the Anacostia River—for all who live, work, and play in the watershed and to advocate for a clean, healthy River for all its communities.

Located on the heavily polluted Anacostia River in Southeast Washington, DC, the goal of the Anacostia Riverkeeper is to protect and restore water quality in the Anacostia River and its tributaries through community action and enforcement; to encourage responsible use of public and private land to create a thriving Anacostia River; to offer and provide professional advice and research about the state and health of the River.

To do this, Anacostia Riverkeeper engages in strong advocacy on behalf of the Anacostia River, focusing on the policy and land use decisions that shape the restoration process and otherwise impact the river. Anacostia RIVERKEEPER works to identify and stop illegal pollution of the river; prevent the destruction of riverside parks, wetlands, and other green spaces; and ensure that waterfront development is protective of the river. The Anacostia Riverkeeper also works to engage citizens from the communities along the river as advocates for their river.

The Anacostia Riverkeeper is affiliated with the Waterkeeper Alliance, an international grassroots advocacy organization dedicated to preserving and protecting water bodies from pollution. Waterkeeper Alliance connects and supports local Waterkeeper programs to provide a voice for waterways and their communities worldwide. To champion clean water and strong communities, Waterkeeper Alliance: supports and empowers member Waterkeeper organizations to protect communities, ecosystems and water quality; promotes the Waterkeeper model for watershed protection worldwide; and advocates for issues common to Waterkeeper programs.

www.anacostiariverkeeper.org

Chesapeake Bay TMDL

District/State of Maryland Trash TMDL

For more information, and how the Maryland National Capital Building Industry Association (MNCBIA) is trying to keep Prince George’s County residents from having the clean water they deserve, check out this Action Alert by the Anacostia Watershed Society. Be sure to contact your elected officials and tell them this isn’t fair to Prince George’s County.

Seen here in the photo are Council Chair Vincent Gray, Councilmember Tommy Wells, Councilmember Harry Thomas, and Councilmember Marion Barry taking the pledge, along with Dottie Yunger, Anacostia Riverkeeper, Brent Bolin, Director of Advocacy for Anacostia Watershed Society, Dennis Chestnut, Executive Director of Groundwork Anacostia, and Irv Sheffey, Environmental Justice Organizer of the Sierra Club.

DC Area Water Issues Program (DCAWIP) – offered by UDC’s College of Agriculture, Urban Sustainability and Environmental Sciences (CAUSES) — is a comprehensive set of university events open to all DC Area students, faculty, water managers, and members of the general public who are interested in water.  DCAWIP is a multi-disciplinary program, exploring issues related to the science and engineering, policy, and socioeconomic aspects of water and watersheds in the DC area.  Funded by the US Geological Survey (USGS) through DC Water Resources Research Institute (DCWRRI), this Program was developed with the goal of creating a more cohesive water research community in the DC area.

The Weekly Seminar is one of several DCAWIP activities being hosted by CAUSES during the Fall 2010 semester.  Every Thursday, speakers from water “stakeholder” organizations will provide insightful, practical information about local water issues and their role in the water community.  Seminars will take place Thursdays, 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM, at UDC’s Van Ness campus (4200 Connecticut Ave., N.W., near the UDC/Van Ness Metro Station), with sponsored refreshments and community building to follow.

Attached is the schedule for August/September, as well as directions.

You can read their Op/Ed, which ran in today’s edition of the Baltimore Sun, here.

The bill was introduced in October of 2009, but the current version of the bill – the one amended by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee – undercuts long-standing Clean Water Act measures and leaves national cleanup efforts uncertain for the Bay.

Why are Waterkeepers opposing this bill?

The Cardin bill fundamentally weakens the Clean Water Act, fails to set an enforceable clean-up deadline, and relies on voluntary measures by states that have already demonstrated a lack of political will to enforce existing mandates that would protect the Bay.  The 13 opposing Waterkeepers also fear that the Cardin bill will set a bad precedent for the rest of the country.

Weakening the Clean Water Act

This bill requires states to exempt polluters by offering undefined “de minimus” exemptions to some point-source polluters (such as developers and wastewater utilities).  This takes away our most powerful tool in cleaning up watersheds: government and citizen enforcement of CWA permit standards.

Shielding the biggest polluters from enforcement

Even though agriculture is the number one source of nutrient and sediment pollution for the Chesapeake, the Cardin bill protects agricultural producers from EPA and State enforcement of CWA, and simply required to follow unenforceable planning documents.

Mandating an unproven market-based approach

The Cardin bill would mandate the creation of a pollutant trading scheme, allowing polluters to sell their credits but without any verification system.  Nutrient trading has been tried in other watersheds in the country, and it has failed to produce reductions in overall nutrient levels, largely due to states’ unwillingness to verify nonpoint source reductions.

Failing to establish a cleanup deadline

Despite common claims that the Cardin bill will result in a clean Bay by 2025, nowhere in the bill do we see an enforceable deadline for meeting its water quality goals.  In fact, the bill actually gives states a grace period until May 12, 2025 to implement their cleanup plans.  On that date, the bill allows states to simply submit “determinations of future actions in order to achieve … water quality standards” somewhere down the road.

Instead of weakening today’s Clean Water Act standards – still Waterkeepers’ best tool for protecting the Bay – the Waterkeepers believe that a clean, healthy Bay watershed can best be achieved by strict enforcement of the CWA as already written.  This will require not only our hard work but strong federal leadership – instead of a weak piece of legislation.

More information and a call to action from the Waterkeeper Alliance: http://www.congressweb.com/cweb2/index.cfm/siteid/WA/action/TakeAction.Background/LetterGroupID/17

Read the Questions and Answers about the Cardin Bill and Clean Water Act/Cardin Bill Comparison.

Environmental Organizations

Waterkeeper Alliance

Anacostia Watershed Society

Partnership for the Anacostia River Cleanup Fund (Bag user fee bill)

Potomac Riverkeeper

Potomac Conservancy

Earthjustice

DC Environmental Network

American Rivers

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

DC Greenworks

DC Surfrider

Alice Ferguson Foundation

EPA Region 3 (Midatlantic)

Greater Greater Washington

Local Government

Washington, DC District Department of the Environment (DDOE)

Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE)

See anyone missing?  Please send the link our way!

The Anacostia Watershed Restoration Plan

The 26 miles of the Anacostia River, its streams and tributaries make up the Anacostia Watershed, a 176-square-mile area that has been plagued by pollution for the past 200 years.  Stormwater runoff, litter and toxic dumping threaten the health of the ecosystem and those of us who live around it.  There are many groups and individuals working to protect and clean up the Watershed, but truly restoring it to a healthy ecosystem will require a large, coordinated effort.

That’s just the goal of the Anacostia Watershed Restoration Partnership.  This coalition – made up of community groups, nonprofits, and government entities – has come together with a major, long-term plan to address the complex challenges facing the Watershed.

The AWRP has 6 major goals to restore the Anacostia Watershed:

1. Dramatically reduce the amount of pollution flowing into the Anacostia River and watershed.
2. Protect and restore the watershed’s ecological integrity – improving water quality and supporting wildlife habitat and recreational amenities.
3. Improve fish passage to enable fish to migrate and spawn in the river and its tributaries.
4. Increase wetland acreage to support water filtration and the proliferation of plants and animals.
5. Expand forest cover.
6. Increase public and private participation in understanding and advocating for the health of the watershed and river.

The AWRP has outlined an 8-part Restoration Strategy to accomplish these goals:

1. Stormwater Retrofit
2. Stream Restoration
3. Wetlands Restoration
4. Fish Blockage Removal
5. Riparian (Coastal) Reforestation, Meadow Creation, Street Trees, and Invasive Species Management
6. Trash Reduction
7. Toxic Remediation
8. Parkland Acquisition

The goals, when officially set in 2001, had a 2010 deadline.  Today they are at varying stages of completion, but the Restoration Plan has far to go.  As with any major environmental action, funding and resources are the AWRP’s biggest limiting factor.  With proper funding, though, the Partnership has the expertise, the well-developed plan, and the shared commitment to this critical watershed to restore it to a healthy state.

An overview of the Anacostia Watershed Restoration Plan is available here (links to PDF)

For information on the AWRP and its progress so far, click here