Anacostia Riverkeeper

As a member of Waterkeeper Alliance, we wanted to share the group's priorities and commitment to clean water access by removing PFAS and other toxics from waterways, strengthening water infrastructure, combatting plastic pollution, conserving wetlands, and more.

Our 2024 Maryland Anacostia Water Quality Report is out! We’ve compiled results and takeaways from the samples our amazing community scientists collected all summer long from 15 sites across Sligo Creek, Northwest Branch, Bladensburg Waterfront, and tributaries off Northeast Branch. Many sites fared similarly to years past, though sites on Sligo Creek showed higher bacteria levels than previous years, even in dry conditions. We are continuing to work with DEP and others to identify the cause. In these areas where water quality is not consistently good enough for safe water-based recreation, check out our report for some alternative recreation recommendations in the area to explore all the Anacostia watershed has to offer! Thank you to all our volunteers; partners One Montgomery Green, Joe's Movement Emporium, FRIENDS OF SLIGO CREEK, Neighbors of the Northwest Branch, and Defensores de la Cuenca; and funders Chesapeake Bay Trust and Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection for supporting the program this year! If you’re interested in becoming a monitor next year, reach out to [email protected]. Read the full report at https://lnkd.in/dCSS6G7w

We had the pleasure of hosting an Anacostia River summit yesterday, bringing together stakeholders on the river and sharing our priorities. It was a productive, inspiring discussion. Thank you to our board member Tommy Wells for organizing the event, to everyone that joined us, and to The Point for hosting us. We look forward to sharing more about the outcomes of the meeting in the coming week!

We had a wonderful time at the Chesapeake Watershed Forum this weekend connecting with other organizations and learning about the important work going on across the region. Our water quality coordinator Petra Baldwin presented a poster on the DC Citizen Science Water Quality Monitoring program, and we’re honored to have been recognized as the best professionals poster. Thank you Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay?for another great forum!

Read our statement about Attorney General Schwalb’s lawsuit against Fort Myer Construction Company, one of the region’s largest road paving and infrastructure construction companies, for illegally contaminating the District’s stormwater system with pollutants in violation of the Water Pollution Control Act (WPCA).

It is with deep sadness that we share that Ethel Kennedy, our founding board member and inspiration, passed away yesterday. She dedicated decades of work to improve the Anacostia River and the lives of all those whole live on its banks. She came, saw the problems on the river, and stayed. Thank you, Ethel, for all that you have done for the Anacostia and beyond. Read a tribute from the Washington Post below.

We were featured in The Washington Post this weekend in an article covering our new program removing large debris and abandoned boats from the Anacostia River. We're excited to be working on this important project with Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments and NOAA: National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration to help clean the river! Read the article: https://lnkd.in/dGA-46DY

Today is World Water Monitoring Day! Here at ARK we believe everyone has a right to clean water and monitoring our waterways is a crucial tool to make that possible. Our community science monitoring programs across the watershed help connect residents with their river and collect important data to track the progress of the Anacostia’s water quality. Today was the final day of our 2024 water quality monitoring season with our final samples collected at our Maryland sites! Stay tuned for this year’s results!

This summer, ARK partnered with the Global FEWture Alliance at University of Maryland to expand our water quality monitoring capabilities. Our new partnership with UMD’s CONSERVE Center builds on five years of existing data, and takes a monumental step toward identifying and eliminating bacterial sources in our watershed to achieve a swimmable river for all. Learn more in this article from Maryland Today, featuring our Watershed Program Manager Maureen Mitchell and two of our dedicated community science monitors.

Anacostia Riverkeeper is honored to announce that we are partnering with Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) on a $1 million project funded by NOAA to remove derelict vessels, large debris, and trash from the Anacostia River. “Removing trash and debris, especially abandoned vessels, is crucial to reviving the health of our waterways and ensuring that our watershed residents have access to a clean and safe river. We are proud to partner on this project and make a tangible difference in the health of the Anacostia watershed, benefiting both the environment and the surrounding communities.” – Suzy Kelly, ARK President Anacostia Riverkeeper is excited to work with COG to improve the health of the watershed by removing an estimated 60,000 pounds of trash and debris and 33 abandoned or derelict vessels (ADVs) from marinas along the Anacostia during the four-year lifespan of the project. The program will help clean up historic boat houses, reduce pollutants and debris in the Anacostia River, and discourage future littering and dumping to achieve a trash free river for all. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/diR_byY2 Photo by Dylan Alvarez.