“Mayor Muriel Bowser, the DC Department of Energy and Environment , and partners from the Anacostia Riverkeeper invite District residents to celebrate progress toward a swimmable Anacostia River at an event on Saturday, July 8 at 12:00 p.m. The event will give residents a rare chance to swim in and reconnect with the Anacostia River while making history at the first permitted swim event in the Anacostia River in more than 50 years.
The DC Citizen Science Water Quality Monitoring Program has tracked the river’s environmental progress for five years and has found low bacteria levels at key recreational sites along the Anacostia. The Anacostia Riverkeeper reports that “in 2022, monitoring sites at Kingman Island, Buzzards Point, and Washington Channel passed recreational water quality standards over 90% of the time. These trends have continued for the 2023 monitoring season so far.”” says Riverkeeper Trey Sherard.
Since taking office, the Bowser Administration has taken a multi-tiered approach to cleaning up the District’s waterways, protecting native wildlife, and preserving important habitats, including:to reverse the history of industrial pollution in the river.