Stormwater Impacts on the Anacostia River

As if last week's storm wasn't enough, the DC area was hit yet again with another heavy rain today with the possibility of more still on the horizon.  While the rain is surely a welcome break from those hot summer temperatures, it can have some serious effects on the environment and the Anacostia River.  The high amount of impervious surfaces like roads and parking lots in the highly developed Anacostia region leads to excessive runoff during even small rain events.  Large rain events like today's and last Thursday's produce even more drastic effects, resulting in high water, flooding, excessive streambank erosion, loss of trees and the dumping of tons of trash and pollutants directly into the river.  Below is a video highlighting photos and footage from the storms on August 12 & 18, 2010.  What you will see is evidence of a "sick river" because this is not normal. 

Special thanks to AWS staff members Brent Bolin, Lee Cain and Masaya Maeda for their photos and videos.