Dirty Water Means No Dips in the Potomac for D.C. Residents

During the hot, sultry, humidity-laced days of summer in Washington, D.C., scores of residents can be seen on the Potomac River. What most of them don’t know is that the 45 miles of the Potomac watershed that is in the District is considered so polluted that swimming in it poses risks of illness and disease, and is prohibited.

Even after decades and millions of dollars of sewer and storm drainage upgrades, the Potomac River still poses a serious health hazard. During rainstorms, these systems commonly overflow into the Potomac and the neighboring Anacostia River. Besides sewage, hazardous substances, like motor oil, animal waste and fertilizers are continuously washed into the waterways largely due to poor natural filters and inadequate stream buffers.

The simple measure of “clean” water under the federal government’s Clean Water Act, is a “swimmable” river, lake or stream. According to a recent report from Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality, half of the Commonwealth’s assessed river miles are deemed unsafe for swimming, and 43 percent of assessed lake acres are impaired for aquatic life.

While much progress has been made, and continues to be made to address these issues, the ban on swimming in the Potomac provides a stark reminder of how far we still need to go to achieve clean, swimmable waters in our country.

Author Doug Pickford of Trout Headwaters, Inc. (THI), an environmental planner with 20 years of experience in the Chesapeake Bay area, follows events in the bay watershed as the tide turns from voluntary to mandatory for bay cleanup regulations and protections. Doug’s blog series for THI will document what is likely the largest and most significant watershed clean up effort in the history of the U.S., and offer his insights into some practical ways to assist the health of this magnificent natural resource.