The Anacostia Watershed Society conducts regular monitoring of water in the Anacostia River. Using data reported by government agencies as well as those by our own routine monitoring, we conduct analysis and identify trends and threats that shape our strategy. These analyses enable us to also track the progress of large-scale river restoration operations like the Clean Rivers Project and the Anacostia River Sediment Project in our role as the voice of the river.
We monitor several key indicators of water quality, including:
- Amount of dissolved oxygen, which indicates the river’s ability to support aquatic life;
- Fecal bacteria/ E. Coli. bacteria, which goes up after rainfall events. Before the implementation of the Clean Rivers Project by DC Water, major storms overwhelmed the combined sewer system, and still stormwater runoff washes pet waste and wildlife feces into the river;
- Water clarity (Secchi Desk Depth);
- Submerged aquatic vegetation, an important indicator of the river’s improving health;
- Stormwater runoff volume;
- Toxic sediments, buried in the river bottom and banks — a legacy of a century of industrial activities along the river;
- Trash, which we capture trash using trash traps we have installed in several tributaries and categorize trash to accumulate trash data;
- Water temperature
- Conductivity
- pH
