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8/2/2019 Sotr Final Web

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STATE OF THEANACOSTIA RIVER


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WELCOMETO OUR SECOND ANNUAL STATE OF THE RIVERREPORT FOR THE ANACOSTIA RIVER!

is report card is your guide to how well our communities,environmental groups, and governments are meeting the goal o a

shable and swimmable nacostia River, per the terms o the lean

ater ct. ur objective is to provide a benchmark o progress and

create accountability or decision makers entrusted with the health othe river. e have analyzed scientic data gathered or core river health

parameters and provided a summary so that citizens and public ocials

can better understand the progress (or lack thereo) toward a healthy

nacostia River.

adly today people who know the nacostia are primarily amiliar with it as the orgotten river,

subject to decades o pollution and neglect. Few people know the proud history o the nacostia

River, when it was a major shipping destination. n colonial times Bladensburg was a bigger port thanBaltimore and the river was 40 eet deep to the banks. Freedmen could earn an honest living working

the rivers wharves. Fish were so bountiul they could be scooped up rom boats, and the marshes othe river were amous or their waterowl hunting.

e river can again be a thriving community asset. isit its banks yoursel to see the surprising beauty

and abundance o wildlie. ake your voice heard in eorts to restore this once proud river to its

proper place in the lie o our communities.

Jim FosterPresident, nacostia atershed ociety

Anacostia Watershed Society has a mission to

protect and restore the Anacostia River andits watershed communities by cleaning the

water, recovering the shores, and honoring theheritage. We believe that by working together

with businesses, governments, faith-basedorganizations, and youth we can create sustainable

solutions that improve our communities, empower

our residents, and create economic prosperity thatwill result in a clean river. We want to change theway people think about the Anacostia and make

the river a destination through our new campaignto Rediscover Your Anacostia!

www.anacostiaws.org

Data set: All available, professionally collected data was used. The data

sets include those collected by DC government, Maryland Department

of Natural Resources, and the Anacostia Watershed Society.

The data was compared with thresholds developed by Mid-Atlantic

Tributary Assessment Coalition (MTAC).

For the 2011 State of the Anacostia River Report, 2010 data set was used

because it was the most recent available data.

For trend analysis, data sets from 1984 to 2010 were used depending on

the parameter and the section of the river.

DISCLAIMERS

Design by Communication Visual, www.com-vis.com / Cover photos by Krista Schlyer, www.enviro-pic.org


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PENNAVE

EAST CAPITOL ST

NEW YORK AVE

BLADENSBURG RD

11THSTREET

BENNING RD

STATE OF

THE 2011

THE ANACOSTIA RIVER

SOUTHCAPITOLSTREET

BA C D F

PASS FAIL

POTOMACRIV

ER

MARYLAND

DC

MARYLANDANACOSTIAB FAIL

UPPER DCANACOSTIA

C FAIL

LOWER DCANACOSTIA

C FAIL

Northwest Branch

Northeast Branch

THERE ARE FOUR main obstacles to a shable and swimmablenacostia ecal bacteria, toxics, trash, and stormwater. eseissues must be addressed or us to have a healthy river.

e analyzed water quality data o the tidal nacostia Riverto assess the river in three sections: the aryland portion

o the nacostia (MD nacostia), the upper portion o thenacostia in DC (Upper DC nacostia), and the lower portiono the nacostia in DC (ower DC nacostia). e parametersused or assessment were issolved xygen, Fecal Bacteria,

ater larity, hlorophyll (a), and ubmerged quaticegetation (SAV).

On a pass/fail scale, assessingparameters against Ecologicalresholds developed by MTAC, allsegments received failing grades.

For the rst time AWS is also using thehesapeake Baywide coheck system toscore parameters. e nacostia received

an overall and ater larity scored

a , showing a clear downward trendeven as other parameters show modest

improvements.


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WATER QUALITY REPORT CARD

DISSOLVED

OXYGEN (DO)

Measureofdissolvedoxygeninthewater

Criticaltothesurvivalofaquaticlife

FECAL

BACTERIA

InDC,CombinedSewerOverowsdumpraw

sewagedirectlyintotheAnacostiaRiverany

timerainexceedsthedrainscapacity

MDhastwoproblems:leakingsewerpipes

andanimalwaste

WATER CLARITY

(SECCHI DISK DEPTH)

Measureofhowmuchlight

penetratesthewatercolumn

Aectsthehealthofaquaticgrasses

CHLOROPHYLL (a)

Measureofmicroalgaebiomass

Canimpactwaterclarityand

dissolvedoxygenlevels

SUBMERGED AQUATIC

VEGETATION (SAV)

Habitatformanyaquatic

organisms.

Takeupnutrients,increasewater

clarity,etc. Theamountoflightreachingthe

bottomdirectlydeterminesifSAV

cansurvive.

Parameters * Section grade

MARYLAND ANACOSTIA

ENTIRE

ANACOSTIA:

% Score0

Grade

F

Trend

Degraded

Estimated years

to meet criterion

n/a

% Score 92 54 31 75

63

B-

Grade for each parameter A C D B+

Trend Improving ImprovingDegradingin

recentyearsImproving

Estimated years to meet

criterion8 87 n/a 43

UPPER DC ANACOSTIA

% Score 61 33 26 60

45

C

Grade for each parameter B- D D B-


recentyears

Seems

improving


criterion28 39 n/a Insucientdata

LOWER DC ANACOSTIA

% Score 56 55 39 59

52

C

Grade for each parameter C+ C+ D+ C+


recentyearsImproving


criterion54 25 n/a 59

This assessment is based on 2010 water quality data.

The higher % score indicates better water quality.*Assessment o SAV is available only or the entire Anacostia River.Overall Grade: C-


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IS THE MD ANACOSTIA REALLY CLEANER?e two large ree-fowing tributaries (the

Northwest and the Northeast Branches)

upstream o the MD nacostia sectionprovide DO-rich water as they bubble down

to Bladensburg. Further, although this wateralso contains excess nutrients, actors such

as better tree canopy in tributaries, and lowerwater temperature do not allow algae to grow

excessively as compared to the tidal portion

o the river. is trend is also refected in

the better hlorophyll (a) score compared todownstream sections.

is year Fecal Bacteria in the MD nacostia was

better than usual. n past years it has been theworst o all sections and it is unknown at this

point i this change is a result oWSSCs ongoingeorts or o variation in the weather pattern.

e table shown here explains that the most

upstream section had been on average the

most polluted with ecal bacteria. n general

all sections seem to be improving and the MDnacostia may be improving the most quickly.

WSSC is certainly working hard to x brokenpipes and other sewage discharges.

ater larity is declining in all sections in recent

years, primarily due to uncontrolled stormwater

runo. s a result SAV has entirely disappearedrom the nacostia River since 2003. loudy

water does not allow sunlight to reach the river

bottom so that SAV can grow. e volume andvelocity o stormwater runo rom roads, parking

lots, and roos scours and erodes our streambedsand banks, reeing and transporting excessive

amounts o sediment that cloud the water and llin downstream channels.

hile the river is improving gradually overall,

it is still in a critical condition. n summer 2011,AWS and governments alike were mystied bywhat turned out to be a black-colored algal bloomon the river, caused by a type o algae known as

a dinofagellate. nother dinofagellate called

esteria has at times ravaged the aryland

coast with sh kills this time we were luckybecause the algae was not toxic.

While the riveris improvinggradually overall,it is still incritical condition.

Black algal bloom in the Anacostia

Averages of % Score over 5-year

periods for fecal bacteria

5-year avg.

20012005

5-year avg.

20062010

MD

AnacostiaD

29.9 C

50.5

Upper DC

AnacostiaC-

40.9 C

50.7

Lower DC

AnacostiaC

52.8 B

67.4


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POLITICAL REPORT CARD

Stormwater Toxics Trash Overall Plan

DCNew MS4 Some progress but

work remains

Bag bill,

trash traps

MCPiloting neighbor-

hood-scale retrofts

Unknown Bag bill, but

little else

Good restoration

work

PGC New SW regs,MS4 permit delay

Unknown No movement on

Trash TMDL

No overall plan

MD weak model MS4 Toxic sourcesnot well

documented

Trash diet

pending

Will WIP be

adequate?

FED SW not adequatelyaddressed by

Bay TMDL

Some progress but

work remains

Trash diet results

pending

Urban Waters pilot

program + new

restoration und

DC Washington, DC

MC Montgomery County, MD

PGC Prince George's County, MD

MD State of Maryland

FED Federal Government


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TO CREATE THE POLITICAL REPORT CARDwe assessed each level o government rom local

(ashington, DC; ontgomery ounty, MD;rince Georges ounty, MD) to state (aryland)

to ederal (primarily EPA and other agencies'activity) to give an overall sense o how each isdoing with respect to certain nacostia Riverrestoration activities. o make the most eective

comparisons, we evaluated clean-up activities or

three major pollutants (stormwater, toxics, and

trash) as well as the jusridictions overall plan orrestoring the nacostia River. (Bacteria was not

assessed because implementation o our consent

decrees with WSSC and DC ater will address the

major sources o pollution.)

e istrict o olumbia has the best overall

grade, based on a strong new 4 permit that

will curb stormwater pollution, leading on

creation o the bag bill and using the proceeds tound additional trash reduction measures, and

having an overall plan to achieve a swimmable

and shable nacostia River. DC did howeverreceive a mixed grade or toxics remediation,refecting an incomplete they are taking

strong steps to move orward at certain sites,

but much work remains to be done at those

sites and other sites still must be brought into aclean-up ramework.

ontgomery ounty also scores well on

stormwater based on their strong MS4 permit,stormwater utility program, and neighborhood-

scale retrot projects. verall they score

well or strategic retrot and restoration

work, as well as research into problems like

illicit discharge. However, while we applaud

the county or implementing a bag bill and

mandating commercial recycling, they arethus ar doing little else to remove trash rom

the tributaries. Finally, we are unaware o anyserious work that has been done to assess toxics

in county streams.

rince Georges ounty gets a mixed score on

stormwater: their new stormwater regulations

are above state minimums but needed to goarther to ensure the health o county streams.

e stormwater retrot portion o the countysWIP is pretty good but the implementation piece

needs work. AWS applauds ounty xecutiveRushern Baker or supporting the bag bill, butthe county agencies have not moved on trashTMDL implementation.

e are concerned about the state o arylands

activities with regard to the states model MS4permit and proposed hesapeake Bay WIP. arlydrats o both are weak on urban stormwater

mitigation, with the MS4 template permit havingmany technical shortcomings that will hindereective stormwater retrots.

e ederal government gets high marks or

developing the Urban aters pilot program(including the nacostia) and a dedicated

und or nacostia restoration projects. eare also glad or the initiative several ederal

agencies have shown in securing a cleanup othe ashington Gas toxic site, but we wish they

could get more involved at other sites where

progress has been slower.

Pepco's Benning Road facility

A combined sewer outfall


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OUR ULTIMATE GOAL a wabl and fhabl Anaca Rv. Tugh uvau pga cad u by u Advcacy, Envnnal Educan, Rcan,

and Swadhp a, AWS nchng wad h gal. In d g h, w nd

duc wa, cal baca, ah, and xc. T gd nw yu can hlp!

Here are a few ways to help protect and restore the Anacostia River:

Usewaterwisely. Preventstormwaterrunowithrainbarrels,cisterns,andraingardens.

Gonativenativeplantsaremadeforourclimatesotheyneedlesswateringandfertilizer.

Usefertilizerwiselyandsparingly.

Dontushhazardouswaste,chemicals,orharshcleansersdownthetoiletorthedrain.

Bringyourownbagstothestore!Plasticbagslittertheriver.

Pickuptrashyouseeonthegroundbeforeitendsupintheriver.

BecomeacommunityleaderbyparticipatingintheWatershedStewardsAcademy.

ReceiveActionAlertsfromAWS.Stayinformedofthelatestwatershedissues

by subscribing to our ree email updates & event announcements.

SupporttheAnacostiaWatershedSocietybydonatingandvolunteering!

For additional information on the Anacostia River, visit www.anacostiaws.org.

We invite you to Rediscover Your Anacostia by volunteering at

a cleanup or tree planting, paddling a canoe down the river,

observing wildlife in the Bladensburg Wetlands and Kenilworth

Marsh, or participating in one of our other educational,

stewardship, and recreation programs held throughout the year.

e nacostia atershed ociety would like to thank the ollowing organizations or technical

assistance and/or unding or this report card:

USDA nvironmental Microbial and Food afety Laboratory for the use ofa laboratory to allow usto analyze water for fecal bacteria

DDOE for providingAWS with water quality monitoring data

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