Anacostia Watershed Society Inc

SEE SCHEDULE O: ORGANIZATION'S MISSION.

ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION: THROUGH OUR ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION PROGRAM, THE ANACOSTIA WATERSHED SOCIETY (AWS) WORKS TO INCREASE AWARENESS, KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND A SENSE OF STEWARDSHIP AMONG YOUTH THAT WILL RESULT IN CHANGES IN BOTH PRESENT AND FUTURE BEHAVIOR POSITIVELY AFFECTING THE HEALTH OF THE ANACOSTIA RIVER. 2022-2023 ENGAGEMENT METRICS INCLUDE: SCHOOLS- 63 CLASS SESSIONS - 133 STUDENTS - 9,572 PROGRAMMATIC HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE: DC SATURDAY ENVIRONMENTAL ACADEMY SEA STUDENTS ENGAGED IN MANY HANDS-ON ACTIVITIES THAT TOOK THEM FROM AWARENESS TO ACTION REGARDING THE BENEFITS OF INCREASING GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE IN OUR WATERSHED. OVERALL WERE 50 STUDENTS (MIDDLE SCHOOLERS) AND STUDENT LEADERS (HIGH SCHOOLERS) IN THE SEA PROGRAM. SUMMER ENVIRONMENTAL ACADEMY IN 2023 AWS LAUNCHED THE SUMMER ENVIRONMENTAL ACADEMY TO STUDENTS ACROSS THE WATERSHED. THIS FREE, WEEK-LONG SUMMER PROGRAM FOCUSED ON TAKING A DEEPER DIVE INTO RESTORATION, HISTORY AND RECREATION ON THE ANACOSTIA RIVER AND IN THE SURROUNDING WATERSHED. SCHOOLS IN SCHOOLS (AMERICAN SHAD PROGRAM) WE WORKED WITH 7 SCHOOLS IN OUR AWS LED PROGRAM AND 7 SCHOOLS IN OUR TEACHER LED PROGRAM ACROSS DC. STUDENTS WERE ENGAGED IN HATCHING THEIR SHAD EGGS IN THE CLASSROOM, AN INTRO CLASS WITH AWS EDUCATORS, AND A SHAD FRY RELEASE FIELD TRIP OUT ON THE ANACOSTIA. OVER 700 STUDENTS WERE ENGAGED IN THE PROGRAM. ADDITIONALLY, STUDENTS MET OUR SHAD RELEASE DELIVERABLE BY RELEASING OVER 5,000 SHAD INTO THE ANACOSTIA. MUSSEL POWER DURING THE 2022- 2023 SCHOOL YEAR, THE ANACOSTIA WATERSHED SOCIETY (AWS) HAS CONTINUED PARTNERSHIP WITH PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS (PGCPS) TO ENGAGE 25 PGCPS HIGH SCHOOLS AND 6 MIDDLE SCHOOLS IN HANDS-ON MUSSEL RESTORATION WORK AND EDUCATION. WE INITIALLY EXPECTED TO SCALE THE PROGRAM BY FIVE MORE SCHOOLS EACH YEAR BEGINNING IN 2023. OVER THE SUMMER WE LEARNED THAT PGCPS WAS READY TO MOVE TO A FULLY SCALED PROGRAM AT THE START OF THE 2023-24 SCHOOL YEAR. PGCPS CURRICULUM WRITERS RE-WROTE THE BIOGEOCHEMICAL SYSTEMS CURRICULUM TO FULLY INTEGRATE THE MUSSEL PROGRAM THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. 7,286 STUDENTS PARTICIPATED IN HANDS-ON AUTHENTIC MUSSEL RESTORATION PROGRAM, LEARNING ABOUT DATA COLLECTION, NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, AND ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP.

RECREATION: AWS OFFERS FREE RECREATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES ON AND AROUND THE RIVER TO OUR WATERSHED COMMUNITY, AND WE CONTINUED TO SEE HIGH DEMAND FOR THESE PROGRAMS IN 2023. OUR RECREATIONAL PROGRAM CONSISTS OF MOTORIZED AND CANOE-BASED BOAT TOURS. THANKS IN STRONG PART TO SUPPORT FROM THE RIVER EXPLORERS PROGRAM WITHIN THE DISTRICT DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT, AWS ENGAGED APPROXIMATELY 2,000 ADULT AND STUDENT RESIDENTS OF THE WATERSHED IN OUR FREE EDUCATIONAL BOAT TOURS. THESE TOURS ENABLED COMMUNITY MEMBERS TO EXPERIENCE THE BEAUTY OF THE RIVER FIRSTHAND, OBSERVE WILDLIFE IN AN URBAN SETTING, AND DEVELOP A SENSE OF STEWARDSHIP AND CONNECTION TO THE ANACOSTIA RIVER AND ITS WATERSHED.

RESTORATION: AWS RESTORATION PROGRAM CELEBRATED KEY MILESTONES FOR 2023. KEY METRICS INCLUDE: 1,631 NATIVE PLANTS, SHRUBS AND TREES PLANTED 2,488 FRESHWATER MUSSELS RELEASED INTO THE ANACOSTIA RIVER 1.7 ACRES OF LAND CLEARED FROM INVASIVE PLANT SPECIES 29 TONS OF TRASH REMOVED FROM THE WATERSHED 3,000 VOLUNTEERS JOINED AWS STAFF IN OUR FIELD CONSERVATION AND RESTORATION EFFORTS PROGRAMMATIC HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE: EARTH DAY 2023 CLEANUP RETURNING FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE THE PANDEMIC LOCK DOWN, AWS' 2023 EARTH DAY CLEANUP ATTRACTED 1,592 VOLUNTEERS TO 34 CLEANUP SITES ACROSS THE WATERSHED, REMOVING A TOTAL OF 27 TONS OF TRASH FROM THE WATERSHED. WILD RICE RESTORATION AFTER TWO DECADES OF DEDICATED EFFORT, AWS HAS SUCCESSFULLY RE-ESTABLISHED WILD RICE IN THE WETLANDS OF THE ANACOSTIA RIVER. THIS KEYSTONE SPECIES WAS VIRTUALLY ELIMINATED FROM THE WATERSHED BY POLLUTION AND HABITAT DESTRUCTION. THROUGH CAREFUL HARVEST AND PLANTING OF WILD RICE SEEDS BY OUR STUDENTS AND VOLUNTEERS, AND PREDATOR CONTROL TO ALLOW THE PLANTS TO GROW, WE REACHED 23 ACRES OF SELF-SUSTAINING WILD RICE IN 2023. GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE IN 2023, RAIN GARDENS, CISTERNS, AND BAYSCAPES CREATED WITH OUR NEIGHBORHOOD PARTNERS TREATED MORE THAN 8,100 GALLONS OF STORMWATER RUNOFF, MODELLING NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS FOR REMEDIATING STORMWATER POLLUTION, SOIL EROSION, AND LOCALIZED FLOODING THAT WILL ONLY INTENSIFY AS CLIMATE CHANGE TAKES HOLD. WORKING WITH LANDOWNERS AND HOUSES OF WORSHIP IN LOCAL COMMUNITIES, OUR DOEE SPONSORED RIVER SMART COMMUNITIES PROGRAM INSTALLED FIVE NEW RAIN GARDENS AND PLANTED NEARLY 1,300 NATIVE PLANTS. THESE RAIN GARDENS WILL SLOW THE FLOW OF INTENSE RAINS ON THE NEARBY PAVED SURFACES, AND THE SOIL AND PLANTS WILL HELP CONTAIN AND PROCESS POLLUTANTS BEFORE THEY ENTER STORM DRAINS AND, ULTIMATELY, THE RIVER. STATE OF THE RIVER REPORT CARD AWS CONTINUED OUR CRITICAL ROLE OF MONITORING WATER QUALITY FOR THE ANACOSTIA RIVER THROUGH THE 2023 STATE OF THE RIVER REPORT. THIS REPORT IS A KEY ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY MECHANISM TO ENSURE THE WATERSHED COMMUNITY CONTINUES TO BE AWARE OF THE STATUS OF WATER QUALITY OF THE ANACOSTIA RIVER. THE 2023 REPORT FOUND THAT WHILE LONG-TERM TRENDS ARE POSITIVE, THE ANACOSTIA RIVER RECEIVED A FAILING GRADE FOR 2023, DUE IN LARGE PART TO THE CONTINUATION OF LOW ACREAGE OF THE RIVER'S UNDERWATER GRASSES. THANKS TO SIGNIFICANT EFFORTS BY THE FEDERAL AND DISTRICT GOVERNMENTS, THE TOXICS REMEDIATION SCORE HAS BEEN STEADILY IMPROVING. WHILE THERE IS GREAT PROGRESS IN CONTROLLING THREATS TO WATER QUALITY, THE ANACOSTIA WATERSHED CONTINUES TO SUFFER FROM THE HISTORICAL LOSS OF WETLANDS AND FORESTS THAT ONCE PROTECTED OUR RIVERS AND STREAMS FROM EXCESSIVE RUN-OFF, SEDIMENT, AND POLLUTION. CLIMATE CHANGE WILL HEIGHTEN THESE CHALLENGES, AND INDEED THREATENS TO ROLL BACK THE GAINS WE'VE MADE OVER THE LAST 30 YEARS.

ADVOCACY: AWS SAW THE REALIZATION OF SEVERAL YEARS-LONG ADVOCACY EFFORTS IN 2023. HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE: REMEDIATION OF TOXIC SEDIMENT AFTER YEARS OF ADVOCACY BY AWS AND OTHERS, IN 2014 THE DC COUNCIL PASSED LEGISLATION REQUIRING THE DC DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY & THE ENVIRONMENT TO CREATE A PLAN FOR CLEANING TOXIC SEDIMENT FROM THE BED OF THE RIVER, THE RESULT OF DECADES OF UNCHECKED POLLUTION FROM INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY ON THE RIVER'S BANKS. IN 2023, THE DC ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE ANNOUNCED THAT ONE OF THOSE POLLUTERS, PEPCO, HAD REACHED A SETTLEMENT THAT WILL CONTRIBUTE 47 MILLION TO THE CLEAN-UP, A VITAL FIRST STEP TOWARD MARSHALING THE RESOURCES NECESSARY TO COMPLETE THIS AMBITIOUS ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION PROJECT. PLASTIC POLLUTION REDUCTION WITH STRONG ADVOCACY BY AWS AND OTHER PARTNERS, PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY BANNED SINGLE USE PLASTIC GROCERY AND RETAIL BAGS. PRELIMINARY SURVEYS SHOW THE PERCENTAGE OF SHOPPERS USING REUSABLE BAGS OR NO BAG AT ALL ROSE FROM 12% TO 69% SINCE THIS LEGISLATION WENT INTO EFFECT IN 2024,, A CHANGE THAT WILL SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE PLASTIC POLLUTION IN THE WATERSHED. AFTER YEARS OF ADVOCACY TO ESTABLISH A DEPOSIT-RETURN SYSTEM FOR INCENTIVIZING RECYCLING OF SINGLE USE BEVERAGE CONTAINERS (PLASTIC, GLASS, ALUMINUM), IN 2023 IT WAS ANNOUNCED THAT A BILL SUPPORTING THIS SYSTEM WOULD BE INTRODUCED IN THE MARYLAND STATE LEGISLATURE. THIS INTRODUCTION MARKS SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS TOWARDS REDUCING POLLUTION IN THE ANACOSTIA WATERSHED, WHERE THE SINGLE MOST COMMON PIECE OF TRASH COLLECTED IN RIVER CLEAN-UPS IS THE PLASTIC BOTTLE. IN ADDITION, AWS PARTNERED WITH SEVERAL DC ENVIRONMENTAL AND COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS TO FOUND 3RC FOR DC, THE RETURN, REFUND, RECYCLE COALITION, DEDICATED TO THE PASSAGE OF LEGISLATION IN DC TO PREVENT PLASTIC BOTTLES FROM FOULING OUR RIVERS AND STREAMS. TACKLING COMBINED SEWER AND STORMWATER OVERFLOWS IN 2000, AWS AND PARTNERS SUED DC WATER FOR VIOLATIONS OF THE FEDERAL CLEAN WATER ACT, ARGUING THAT THE UTILITY WAS NOT DOING ENOUGH TO PREVENT COMBINED SEWER AND STORMWATER OVERFLOWS THAT WERE DUMPING OVER 2 BILLION GALLONS OF UNTREATED SEWAGE INTO THE RIVER EVERY YEAR. IN 2023, WE CELEBRATED THE SUCCESSFUL CULMINATION OF THAT LITIGATION: THE COMPLETION OF A TUNNEL SYSTEM THAT WILL INTERCEPT 98% OF THAT SEWAGE AND SEND IT INSTEAD TO THE BLUE PLAINS TREATMENT PLANT FOR PROPER TREATMENT. AFTER OVER TWENTY YEARS OF STEADY EFFORT, A HUGE VICTORY FOR WATER QUALITY IN THE ANACOSTIA RIVER IS SECURED.