The Anacostia River, long referred to as DC's “Forgotten River,” is slowly coming back to life thanks to cleanup efforts spearheaded by environmental groups throughout the area.

It has been a century since the other river in Washington, the Anacostia, was deep enough for sea-faring ships to reach Prince George’s County and dock in the bustling seaport of Bladensburg, Md.

Overdevelopment changed this once wild river forever, from being filled with fish and clipper ships to being strangled by silt and pollution.

Until recently, the Anacostia had the reputation of a “dead zone,” where trash and industry overwhelmed the potential for wildlife to thrive again. But now there is a glimmer of hope. The Anacostia, which runs through some of the poorest parts of the District of Columbia and Maryland, is making a significant comeback.

“I am quite impressed with how clean this area is,” said Janet Keith, a member of the Fort Davis Civic Association, a group that sponsors cleanups along the Anacostia. “There are pristine areas all along this river that are actually quite remarkable.”

The Fort Davis Civic Association is one of many groups that have mobilized area residents to take another look at the river and become engaged in its restoration.

“I’ve definitely seen an improvement in awareness over the past ten years about this place,” said Kellie Bollinger, an executive assistant with the Southwest D.C. based Earth Conservation Corps.

“What I think most people find unique about the Anacostia is that even though it’s polluted, there is life that’s sustained by the river,” said Bollinger.

It’s not just mallard ducks and minnows that call the Anacostia home. In the shadow of Nationals Park, ospreys build their nests after migrating 4,000 miles from South America.

“We have three osprey nests on the Frederick Douglas Bridge,” said Daryl Wallace, a naturalist with the Earth Conservation Corps. “And you’ve got to think, ‘ok, you wouldn't fly from South America to North America if you didn't have good eatin’”
Wallace himself proudly shows friends and family a photo of a four-foot-long catfish he caught on the Anacostia last summer.

“That’s the real deal!” Wallace exclaimed. “It shows how this river is worth fighting for because we have wildlife like that in the ecosystem.”

The grassroots organizations involved in restoring the watershed have focused on removing street trash, which clog the river and are eaten by wildlife after washing into the Anacostia from storm drains.

“Historically, plastic bags have been the most prevalent kind of trash we find in the water,” said Dolly Davis of the Alice Ferguson Foundation, a group that promotes environmental education around the District.

“But now that D.C. has put a tax on plastic bags, we’re seeing a real difference in how clean this river really is. You see heron upstream that are eating in clear water, not a dump.”

Irv Sheffy, an environmental justice organizer with the Sierra Club, agrees that the “bag tax” that began in January has made a marked improvement in the amount of debris that ends up in the river. However, he cautioned that the Anacostia is still harmed by the District’s antiquated sewers.

“In a rainstorm of an inch or more, our sewer system can’t treat the ‘influx’ of rain and sewage,” said Sheffy. “So it’s all dumped into the Anacostia. That’s a shame for the nation’s capital.”

The D.C. Water and Sewer Authority does have a plan to build three metro station sized tunnels underground that will hold wastewater without releasing it into the river. However, construction will cost $2.4 billion and not be completed until 2030.

Long-term horizons for the project do not dishearten Wallace, who wraps up his day with the ECC by bringing birds of prey native to the Anacostia outside for a flight. “It's not even a big thing anymore when you see a red-tailed hawk sitting up on a lamp post,” said Wallace.

It’s just one more sign that the river is making progress in its return to a place full of life like – as it was hundreds of years ago.