DC Water continues momemtum on cleaning Anacostia River
Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton today released the following press release:
Norton Says Progress on Anacostia River Tunnel System Marks Turning Point for River’s Health and Flood Control and Will Help Her Keep Securing Federal Funding
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today congratulated the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (DC Water) as it marked the start of the final segment to complete the Anacostia River Tunnel System. Norton has repeatedly secured annual federal funding for DC Water for ongoing work to clean up the Anacostia River, including $14 million in fiscal year 2018. Norton said the tunnel system will greatly improve the Anacostia River’s health by reducing sewage overflows and will also help control flooding, a heightened concern as water levels continue to rise due to climate change.
“Our efforts to clean up the Anacostia River and control flooding are reaching an important turning point as DC Water begins the final leg of the massive Anacostia River Tunnel System as part of their ambitious and innovative Clean Rivers Project,” Norton said. “In discussions with appropriators, I have given great priority to securing millions in annual federal funding to clean up the Anacostia and Potomac rivers not only because the federal government has a strong vested interest, but also because of the tangible results we have been seeing during the past decade. The District of Columbia has an increased vested interest in keeping our waterways clean as we build on the previously unused Southeast and Southwest waterfronts, a result of two of my economic development bills. In addition to cleaning up our waterways, the tunnel system will help control flooding, a threat that grows more dire as climate change continues to cause rising water levels and stronger storm surges, as we have already seen with this year’s flooding of the Georgetown waterfront.”
Norton was the lead sponsor of a provision included in the enacted Water Resources Development Act of 2007 that directed the Secretary of the Interior, in coordination with the Mayor of the District of Columbia, the Governor of Maryland and the county executives of Montgomery County and Prince George’s County, Maryland, to develop a 10-year action plan to restore and protect the ecological integrity of the Anacostia River and its tributaries.