Staff and interns of Councilmembers Wells, Graham, and Cheh went on a boat tour of the Anacostia River last week. We all enjoyed learning about the river and some of us even got to drive the boat! For most of us it was our first time on the river. Councilmember Wells has long been looking at ways to reduce litter in the Anacostia. Therefore having this staff experience and understand the beauty and challenges of the Anacostia will be extremely valuable for working on the future strategies.

The tour was hosted by the Anacostia Watershed Society which is a nonprofit organization dedicated to cleaning the water, recovering the shores, and honoring the heritage of Anacostia River Watershed. Our pontoon boat started from James Creek Marina right where Anacostia meets the Potomac River, and went upstream up to the CSX Railroad Bridge. Our host and narrator Jim Connolly from AWS gave us a comprehensive description of the underutilized but wonderful Anacostia. Hamid Karimi, deputy director of the District Department of Environment also added useful comments and information. In short, the Anacostia River is the home of many populations of fishes, birds, and other wildlife. It has many federal government sites close by and has a strong cultural and historic background. For instance the Seafarers Yacht Club which is the first African-American boating club on east coast is located on Anacostia. The Club has dedicated its resources to the restoration and clean-up of this river, and has initiated Anacostia Annual Cleanups since 1985.

The tour was set up for the DC Council staff to see the pollution problems that plague the Anacostia. There were all kinds of trash floating on the river, from nutrients to plastic bottles, plastic bags and Styrofoam food containers to tires! And according to Jim, on Wednesday the Anacostia was not even close to as dirty as it sometimes gets! Toxic chemicals that leach out from many of these trash items are extremely threatening to the wildlife.  Contaminated fish can end up in our bodies and cause many diseases including lowering human fertility. We passed by a floating trash trap and several cleaning barges installed by the Department of Public Works. These clean the water of Anacostia on a regular basis, but as essential as these methods are at present, they are very expensive and not permanent solutions.

One bigger problem that the river has been suffering from is the DC sewer system which is the main source of the river’s pollution. The city's sewer system exceeds capacity whenever there is a heavy rain. The stormwater along with the untreated sewage water overflows and runs straight into the river. This highly limits recreational uses such as swimming and canoeing. Hamid reminded us that the river looks completely brown in satellite images; indeed it looked brown even from where we were standing on the boat!

The most valuable outcome we are hoping to get from this tour is generating even more concern in ourselves to think and work harder to find ways to clean up the river. Councilmember Wells' office has been studying and working on policies to attack Anacostia's pollution problems, from public education to the possibility of reducing plastic bags and other trash. Councilmember Wells has also been encouraging developers throughout the city to use more on-site stormwater management techniques to minimize the non-point source chemical pollution in both Anacostia and Potomac Rivers.  Experiencing the Anacostia firsthand really helped us realize how important it is that we reclaim this wonderful natural resource of the District.