Five issues dominate the restoration efforts for the Anacostia Watershed.
- Polluted Runoff (Stormwater) Pavement and impermeable landscape alter the way rain interacts with the earth. Rain, nature's lifeblood, gets diverted into storm drains and becomes a delivery method carrying surface pollutants into the river.
- Trash - More than just an eyesore, hundreds of tons of trash load up our river and tributary streams. Plastic bottles, styrofoam, furniture, and shopping carts - it all makes the River unsafe for wildlife and humans. Expensive to remove, trash negatively impacts the aesthetics and well-being of communities.
- Combined Sewer Overflows - A sewer system over 150 years old releases two billion gallons of untreated sewage mixed with stormwater into the Anacostia River each year. This happens even when it rains half an inch to an inch in a short period of time. CSO events raise fecal coliform bacteria, trash, and sediment to unhealthy levels in the River.
- Toxics - Toxic chemicals such as PCBs, PAHs, and pesticides have a legacy of contaminating the River and poisoning wildlife. Up to two-thirds of the brown bullhead catfish in the River have cancerous tumors and/or lesions, and the toxins in their tissues can be passed on to humans when consumed. Of recent concern in our waterways are pharmaceutical chemicals - “endocrine disruptors” - that can cause male fish to grow eggs.
- Environmental Justice - Low income communities and minorities often bear the disproportionate share of the negative environmental consequences resulting from industrial, governmental, and commercial operations and policies. Flowing through the poorest neighborhoods in the District, the Anacostia River has been the nation’s forgotten river. National parklands in its watershed are abandoned toxic dumps. Communities bear the health risks of living near power plants and landfills. Parents who taught their kids to swim in the River no longer go near it.
