Anacostia Watershed Society Homepage

National Park Service Holds Public Hearings on Anacostia Wetland Restoration and Canada Goose Management Strategies

On July 18 & 19, 2007, the National Park Service National Capital Region—East Division will open its new Wetland Restoration and Canada Goose Management strategies for comment from the general public. Two open houses will be held—one on July 17 at 6:00PM and the other on July 18 at 2:00PM—for the public at U.S. Park Police Headquarters in Anacostia Park. AWS encourages all concerned citizens to attend one of these two meetings. Please read our press release for additional detail and address information. To contact the NPS, send email to NCFA_Public_Affairs@nps.gov.

If you cannot attend an open house, please consider submitting your comments to the National Park Service in writing by August 10, 2007, to the following address:

Superintendent, National Capital Parks-East
RE: Wetlands Restoration Plan/EA

1900 Anacostia Dr., SE
Washington, DC 20020

Anacostia Levee System In Danger of Failing

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) issued a statement on Thursday, February 1, 2007, declaring 122 levees around the country as being at risk of failure. Levees along the Anacostia and Potomac Park in Maryland and Washington, D.C., appear on that list. The Anacostia Watershed Society has expressed concern over increasing sediment loads along stretches of the Anacostia in the Bladensburg / Port Towns area where USACE levees stretch for several miles. We call on all citizens concerned about thier safety and property to rally congressional support in favor of a new and complete assessment of the Anacostia levee system by the USACE, Baltimore District.

Maryland Trash TMDL Campaign

AWS presentation at COG meeting

AWS made a presentation at a Council of Governments (COG) meeting on August 30, 2006. At the meeting, AWS stressed that the goals the Potomac Watershed Trash Free Treaty must be met by the year 2013 in the Anacostia River as well. The Stormwater Partners Coalision to which AWS belongs suggested a “parallel path” as opposed to the sequential path proposed by the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE). The parallel path brings monitoring, criteria development, implementation, and incorporation into the MS4 permit simultaneously in order to allow adequate time for implementation. A 15% reduction rule was suggested by AWS and the coalition as a parameter to measure the success; this means that each year between now and 2013 (7 years) the trash levels removed from the Anacostia River and its watershed increase by 15% thus enabling a trash-free Anacostia by 2013. To get the presentation file (1MB, pdf file), click here.

Making progress toward a trash-free Anacostia River

Read about the comment letter sent by the partners to the Maryland Department of the Environment.

AWS is committed to returning the Anacostia to healthy, usable conditions.

Gorges of Prince George's

Stormwater flows in Anacostia River tributaries are destroying streambanks, causing highly turbid water, and accumulating sediment on the river bottom. See photos of streambank erosion in Prince George's County, where stormwater has created riverbank gorges. Click here to Tour the Gorges of Prince George's.

Anacostia Resident Canada Goose Q&A

In many eastern U.S. suburbs, resident Canada geese are considered nuisances---pooping all over golf courses, parks, business campuses, cemeteries. Did you know these non-native birds (an import from the Midwest 40 years ago) are also eating large swathes of expensive wetland restoration projects on the tidal Anacostia? Over 60% of Kingman Marsh (just north of Benning Road

) and Heritage Marsh (adjacent RFK) have been grazed to oblivion, undercutting the ecological health of the river.

Anacostia Levee System In Danger of Failing

AWS Named One of Greater D.C.'s Best Small Charities

Maryland Trash TMDL Campaign

Gorges of Prince George's

Anacostia Resident Canada Goose Q&A

Recent Action

Stormwater Mitigation: Bladensburg Beach Party [click here]