Date: Tuesday, November 14th
Time: 3:30pm
Location: Smith Hall, 359
Title: Restoring DC’s ‘forgotten river’
Abstract: Twenty eight years ago when the Anacostia Watershed Society (AWS) was founded, the Anacostia River was a truly forsaken place. Plagued by centuries of neglect, from the times European settlers started working the land, rather unsustainably, to the modern days of industrialization which brought about serious pollution problems that are still pending solutions. Today, there is a completely different scenario, one marked by more attention to the river and a growing perception of it as a valuable public asset that needs to be cleaned and restored. With the DC government’s ongoing efforts to reduce combined sewer overflows into river with a massive infrastructure project designed to reduce 98% of the sewer pollution by 2022, the Anacostia River is well in its way to much better days. AWS has been an important actor in the cleaning of the Anacostia River with its energetic restoration, education, recreation and advocacy efforts to make the river fishable and swimmable by 2025 in keeping with the Clean Water Act. Restoring the river’s degraded ecosystems has been an integral part of AWS stewardship efforts to revitalize the river and to educate and engage people in the process. This talk will present AWS’ efforts to restore the river’s waterways, wetlands, forests, meadows and biodiversity in an attempt to bring back the vital ecosystem services this natural capital can provide.
Note: Hosted by Biology graduate students
