Date post: | 05-Apr-2018 |
Category: |
Documents |
Upload: | lydia-depillis |
View: | 219 times |
Download: | 0 times |
of 8
8/2/2019 Sotr Final Web
1/8
STATE OF THEANACOSTIA RIVER
8/2/2019 Sotr Final Web
2/8
WELCOMETO OUR SECOND ANNUAL STATE OF THE RIVERREPORT FOR THE ANACOSTIA RIVER!
is report card is your guide to how well our communities,environmental groups, and governments are meeting the goal o a
shable and swimmable nacostia River, per the terms o the lean
ater ct. ur objective is to provide a benchmark o progress and
create accountability or decision makers entrusted with the health othe river. e have analyzed scientic data gathered or core river health
parameters and provided a summary so that citizens and public ocials
can better understand the progress (or lack thereo) toward a healthy
nacostia River.
adly today people who know the nacostia are primarily amiliar with it as the orgotten river,
subject to decades o pollution and neglect. Few people know the proud history o the nacostia
River, when it was a major shipping destination. n colonial times Bladensburg was a bigger port thanBaltimore and the river was 40 eet deep to the banks. Freedmen could earn an honest living working
the rivers wharves. Fish were so bountiul they could be scooped up rom boats, and the marshes othe river were amous or their waterowl hunting.
e river can again be a thriving community asset. isit its banks yoursel to see the surprising beauty
and abundance o wildlie. ake your voice heard in eorts to restore this once proud river to its
proper place in the lie o our communities.
Jim FosterPresident, nacostia atershed ociety
Anacostia Watershed Society has a mission to
protect and restore the Anacostia River andits watershed communities by cleaning the
water, recovering the shores, and honoring theheritage. We believe that by working together
with businesses, governments, faith-basedorganizations, and youth we can create sustainable
solutions that improve our communities, empower
our residents, and create economic prosperity thatwill result in a clean river. We want to change theway people think about the Anacostia and make
the river a destination through our new campaignto Rediscover Your Anacostia!
www.anacostiaws.org
Data set: All available, professionally collected data was used. The data
sets include those collected by DC government, Maryland Department
of Natural Resources, and the Anacostia Watershed Society.
The data was compared with thresholds developed by Mid-Atlantic
Tributary Assessment Coalition (MTAC).
For the 2011 State of the Anacostia River Report, 2010 data set was used
because it was the most recent available data.
For trend analysis, data sets from 1984 to 2010 were used depending on
the parameter and the section of the river.
DISCLAIMERS
Design by Communication Visual, www.com-vis.com / Cover photos by Krista Schlyer, www.enviro-pic.org
8/2/2019 Sotr Final Web
3/8
PENNAVE
EAST CAPITOL ST
NEW YORK AVE
BLADENSBURG RD
11THSTREET
BENNING RD
STATE OF
THE 2011
THE ANACOSTIA RIVER
SOUTHCAPITOLSTREET
BA C D F
PASS FAIL
POTOMACRIV
ER
MARYLAND
DC
MARYLANDANACOSTIAB FAIL
UPPER DCANACOSTIA
C FAIL
LOWER DCANACOSTIA
C FAIL
Northwest Branch
Northeast Branch
THERE ARE FOUR main obstacles to a shable and swimmablenacostia ecal bacteria, toxics, trash, and stormwater. eseissues must be addressed or us to have a healthy river.
e analyzed water quality data o the tidal nacostia Riverto assess the river in three sections: the aryland portion
o the nacostia (MD nacostia), the upper portion o thenacostia in DC (Upper DC nacostia), and the lower portiono the nacostia in DC (ower DC nacostia). e parametersused or assessment were issolved xygen, Fecal Bacteria,
ater larity, hlorophyll (a), and ubmerged quaticegetation (SAV).
On a pass/fail scale, assessingparameters against Ecologicalresholds developed by MTAC, allsegments received failing grades.
For the rst time AWS is also using thehesapeake Baywide coheck system toscore parameters. e nacostia received
an overall and ater larity scored
a , showing a clear downward trendeven as other parameters show modest
improvements.
8/2/2019 Sotr Final Web
4/8
WATER QUALITY REPORT CARD
DISSOLVED
OXYGEN (DO)
Measureofdissolvedoxygeninthewater
Criticaltothesurvivalofaquaticlife
FECAL
BACTERIA
InDC,CombinedSewerOverowsdumpraw
sewagedirectlyintotheAnacostiaRiverany
timerainexceedsthedrainscapacity
MDhastwoproblems:leakingsewerpipes
andanimalwaste
WATER CLARITY
(SECCHI DISK DEPTH)
Measureofhowmuchlight
penetratesthewatercolumn
Aectsthehealthofaquaticgrasses
CHLOROPHYLL (a)
Measureofmicroalgaebiomass
Canimpactwaterclarityand
dissolvedoxygenlevels
SUBMERGED AQUATIC
VEGETATION (SAV)
Habitatformanyaquatic
organisms.
Takeupnutrients,increasewater
clarity,etc. Theamountoflightreachingthe
bottomdirectlydeterminesifSAV
cansurvive.
Parameters * Section grade
MARYLAND ANACOSTIA
ENTIRE
ANACOSTIA:
% Score0
Grade
F
Trend
Degraded
Estimated years
to meet criterion
n/a
% Score 92 54 31 75
63
B-
Grade for each parameter A C D B+
Trend Improving ImprovingDegradingin
recentyearsImproving
Estimated years to meet
criterion8 87 n/a 43
UPPER DC ANACOSTIA
% Score 61 33 26 60
45
C
Grade for each parameter B- D D B-
Trend Improving ImprovingDegradingin
recentyears
Seems
improving
Estimated years to meet
criterion28 39 n/a Insucientdata
LOWER DC ANACOSTIA
% Score 56 55 39 59
52
C
Grade for each parameter C+ C+ D+ C+
Trend Improving ImprovingDegradingin
recentyearsImproving
Estimated years to meet
criterion54 25 n/a 59
This assessment is based on 2010 water quality data.
The higher % score indicates better water quality.*Assessment o SAV is available only or the entire Anacostia River.Overall Grade: C-
8/2/2019 Sotr Final Web
5/8
IS THE MD ANACOSTIA REALLY CLEANER?e two large ree-fowing tributaries (the
Northwest and the Northeast Branches)
upstream o the MD nacostia sectionprovide DO-rich water as they bubble down
to Bladensburg. Further, although this wateralso contains excess nutrients, actors such
as better tree canopy in tributaries, and lowerwater temperature do not allow algae to grow
excessively as compared to the tidal portion
o the river. is trend is also refected in
the better hlorophyll (a) score compared todownstream sections.
is year Fecal Bacteria in the MD nacostia was
better than usual. n past years it has been theworst o all sections and it is unknown at this
point i this change is a result oWSSCs ongoingeorts or o variation in the weather pattern.
e table shown here explains that the most
upstream section had been on average the
most polluted with ecal bacteria. n general
all sections seem to be improving and the MDnacostia may be improving the most quickly.
WSSC is certainly working hard to x brokenpipes and other sewage discharges.
ater larity is declining in all sections in recent
years, primarily due to uncontrolled stormwater
runo. s a result SAV has entirely disappearedrom the nacostia River since 2003. loudy
water does not allow sunlight to reach the river
bottom so that SAV can grow. e volume andvelocity o stormwater runo rom roads, parking
lots, and roos scours and erodes our streambedsand banks, reeing and transporting excessive
amounts o sediment that cloud the water and llin downstream channels.
hile the river is improving gradually overall,
it is still in a critical condition. n summer 2011,AWS and governments alike were mystied bywhat turned out to be a black-colored algal bloomon the river, caused by a type o algae known as
a dinofagellate. nother dinofagellate called
esteria has at times ravaged the aryland
coast with sh kills this time we were luckybecause the algae was not toxic.
While the riveris improvinggradually overall,it is still incritical condition.
Black algal bloom in the Anacostia
Averages of % Score over 5-year
periods for fecal bacteria
5-year avg.
20012005
5-year avg.
20062010
MD
AnacostiaD
29.9 C
50.5
Upper DC
AnacostiaC-
40.9 C
50.7
Lower DC
AnacostiaC
52.8 B
67.4
8/2/2019 Sotr Final Web
6/8
POLITICAL REPORT CARD
Stormwater Toxics Trash Overall Plan
DCNew MS4 Some progress but
work remains
Bag bill,
trash traps
MCPiloting neighbor-
hood-scale retrofts
Unknown Bag bill, but
little else
Good restoration
work
PGC New SW regs,MS4 permit delay
Unknown No movement on
Trash TMDL
No overall plan
MD weak model MS4 Toxic sourcesnot well
documented
Trash diet
pending
Will WIP be
adequate?
FED SW not adequatelyaddressed by
Bay TMDL
Some progress but
work remains
Trash diet results
pending
Urban Waters pilot
program + new
restoration und
DC Washington, DC
MC Montgomery County, MD
PGC Prince George's County, MD
MD State of Maryland
FED Federal Government
8/2/2019 Sotr Final Web
7/8
TO CREATE THE POLITICAL REPORT CARDwe assessed each level o government rom local
(ashington, DC; ontgomery ounty, MD;rince Georges ounty, MD) to state (aryland)
to ederal (primarily EPA and other agencies'activity) to give an overall sense o how each isdoing with respect to certain nacostia Riverrestoration activities. o make the most eective
comparisons, we evaluated clean-up activities or
three major pollutants (stormwater, toxics, and
trash) as well as the jusridictions overall plan orrestoring the nacostia River. (Bacteria was not
assessed because implementation o our consent
decrees with WSSC and DC ater will address the
major sources o pollution.)
e istrict o olumbia has the best overall
grade, based on a strong new 4 permit that
will curb stormwater pollution, leading on
creation o the bag bill and using the proceeds tound additional trash reduction measures, and
having an overall plan to achieve a swimmable
and shable nacostia River. DC did howeverreceive a mixed grade or toxics remediation,refecting an incomplete they are taking
strong steps to move orward at certain sites,
but much work remains to be done at those
sites and other sites still must be brought into aclean-up ramework.
ontgomery ounty also scores well on
stormwater based on their strong MS4 permit,stormwater utility program, and neighborhood-
scale retrot projects. verall they score
well or strategic retrot and restoration
work, as well as research into problems like
illicit discharge. However, while we applaud
the county or implementing a bag bill and
mandating commercial recycling, they arethus ar doing little else to remove trash rom
the tributaries. Finally, we are unaware o anyserious work that has been done to assess toxics
in county streams.
rince Georges ounty gets a mixed score on
stormwater: their new stormwater regulations
are above state minimums but needed to goarther to ensure the health o county streams.
e stormwater retrot portion o the countysWIP is pretty good but the implementation piece
needs work. AWS applauds ounty xecutiveRushern Baker or supporting the bag bill, butthe county agencies have not moved on trashTMDL implementation.
e are concerned about the state o arylands
activities with regard to the states model MS4permit and proposed hesapeake Bay WIP. arlydrats o both are weak on urban stormwater
mitigation, with the MS4 template permit havingmany technical shortcomings that will hindereective stormwater retrots.
e ederal government gets high marks or
developing the Urban aters pilot program(including the nacostia) and a dedicated
und or nacostia restoration projects. eare also glad or the initiative several ederal
agencies have shown in securing a cleanup othe ashington Gas toxic site, but we wish they
could get more involved at other sites where
progress has been slower.
Pepco's Benning Road facility
A combined sewer outfall
8/2/2019 Sotr Final Web
8/8
OUR ULTIMATE GOAL a wabl and fhabl Anaca Rv. Tugh uvau pga cad u by u Advcacy, Envnnal Educan, Rcan,
and Swadhp a, AWS nchng wad h gal. In d g h, w nd
duc wa, cal baca, ah, and xc. T gd nw yu can hlp!
Here are a few ways to help protect and restore the Anacostia River:
Usewaterwisely. Preventstormwaterrunowithrainbarrels,cisterns,andraingardens.
Gonativenativeplantsaremadeforourclimatesotheyneedlesswateringandfertilizer.
Usefertilizerwiselyandsparingly.
Dontushhazardouswaste,chemicals,orharshcleansersdownthetoiletorthedrain.
Bringyourownbagstothestore!Plasticbagslittertheriver.
Pickuptrashyouseeonthegroundbeforeitendsupintheriver.
BecomeacommunityleaderbyparticipatingintheWatershedStewardsAcademy.
ReceiveActionAlertsfromAWS.Stayinformedofthelatestwatershedissues
by subscribing to our ree email updates & event announcements.
SupporttheAnacostiaWatershedSocietybydonatingandvolunteering!
For additional information on the Anacostia River, visit www.anacostiaws.org.
We invite you to Rediscover Your Anacostia by volunteering at
a cleanup or tree planting, paddling a canoe down the river,
observing wildlife in the Bladensburg Wetlands and Kenilworth
Marsh, or participating in one of our other educational,
stewardship, and recreation programs held throughout the year.
e nacostia atershed ociety would like to thank the ollowing organizations or technical
assistance and/or unding or this report card:
USDA nvironmental Microbial and Food afety Laboratory for the use ofa laboratory to allow usto analyze water for fecal bacteria
DDOE for providingAWS with water quality monitoring data