Keep in the Loop
Get the Latest updates on our work delivered to your inbox.
Subscribe Now
Anacostia River #MusselPower gets a boost
August 7, 2019
On Wednesday, August 7, DC's Mayor Muriel Bowser announced the Anacostia Watershed Society is the recipient of a $400,000 grant to build up our #MusselPower program. With this program expansion, we will be reintroducing 35,000 freshewater mussels into the Anacostia River with the help of 400 students who will learn all about mussels and river ecology with us!
Last year, the Anacostia Watershed Society started a pilot program to see if the Anacostia River was clean enough to support freshwater mussels. All year long we've kept them in special baskets at various points along the river, and we've checked on their growth monthly. We have found that the Anacostia River mussels are thriving - growing well and even reproducing! Freshwater mussels eat sediment and other nutrients, so a healthy population will restore a natural system for the river to get clean without major human intervention.
Read the full press release from the Mayor's Office by clicking here.
Published in:
Newsroom
Maureen Farrington
