Anacostia River closer to being safe for swimming, report says

The C-minus on this report card is “a cause for celebration,” according to an organization that鈥檚 been monitoring the Anacostia River for more than 20 years.

The Anacostia Watershed Society’s latest State of the River Report Card, to be released to the public Tuesday, includes the best water quality grade in the report’s history.

The group, founded in 1989, started “intense” monitoring of the waterway in 2002, and issued its first report card in 2014.

鈥淲hen we first published our first report, the river got a failing grade,鈥� Christopher E. Williams, the society’s president and CEO, told WTOP

鈥淚t’s a cause for celebration for us that not only is the river no longer failing, but it’s actually starting to move up the grade scale,鈥� Williams added, comparing the Anacostia River to a troubled student.

鈥淲hen a student who has been having troubles and consistently failing gets a C-, you say two things,鈥� Williams said. 鈥淥ne, you say, ‘That’s fabulous. You’ve gotten your grade up to a C-minus.’ And the second thing you say is, ‘Now let’s keep working and get it up to an A.‘鈥�

While river health is improving, is it clean enough to take a swim or cast a fishing line?

鈥淣o one would imagine swimming in the river 30 years ago. Now, swimming in the river’s coming into view. We’re getting to the point where we may actually be able to swim in the river in a few years,鈥� Williams said.

Several other river health indicators 鈥� including stormwater runoff and chlorophyll a, fecal bacteria and dissolved oxygen levels 鈥� also get letter grades. Williams said “virtually all” have steadily improved over the past two decades.

鈥淔ecal bacteria, that’s the real obstacle to a swimmable Anacostia River. 鈥� That’s one we need to continue to work to improve,鈥� he said.

Fish and wildlife in the river need higher dissolved oxygen levels.

鈥淚t鈥檚 improving, but we need to keep pushing to improve it even more,鈥� Williams said, describing the progress as the result of聽sustained efforts over decades by volunteers, community members and local agencies.

鈥淚t’s important that people understand that this is a lengthy process. We’re moving toward a river that is fishable and swimmable and that is a healthy river ecosystem,鈥� Williams said.

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