All News Releases By Date

EPA announces $1 million funding for Anacostia during World Water Monitoring Day event

Release Date: 10/18/2006
Contact Information: Roy Seneca 215-814-5567

WASHINGTON, D.C. – During a World Water Monitoring Day event today along the banks of the Anacostia River, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Federal Highway Administration announced more than $1 million in funding to help restore and protect the Anacostia watershed.

“World Water Monitoring Day reconnects people and watersheds and reminds us to think globally and test locally,” said Benjamin H. Grumbles, EPA assistant administrator for the Office of Water. “EPA and the Federal Highways Administration are advancing President Bush’s Cooperative Conservation agenda by helping to restore and protect the Anacostia River through a new $1 million grant to control storm water pollution and promote low impact development. What better way to celebrate the anniversary of the Clean Water Act than to take action in the nation’s capital united with our partners to improve the health of an urban river connecting us all to the Chesapeake Bay.”

The funding includes three Anacostia River Urban Watershed Partnership grants that support a diverse set of activities and pilot projects:

• $495,000 to the District of Columbia Department of Transportation and partners to help restore the watershed in urban areas that have undergone excessive development. Much of the work will focus on low impact development and other technologies to improve storm water runoff.

• $405,000 to the Anacostia Watershed Society and partners for a three-year work plan to assess the Paint and Little Paint branches of the Anacostia River, upstream in Maryland.

• $100,000 to Prince George’s County, Md. in cooperation with the Maryland State Highway Administration to restore urban watersheds with emphasis on controlling harmful storm water runoff from highways.

“Transportation requires a comprehensive approach,” said Federal Highway Administrator J. Richard Capka. “These proposals reflect our commitment to balancing America’s infrastructure needs with water quality and other environmental factors.”

Water monitoring completed today culminates a month of water quality monitoring activities in which educators, families, scouts, volunteer water monitoring organizations and government professionals have been taking water quality samples, sharing data, and educating their communities about water quality.

Students from the Washington, D.C. area joined with Earth Conservation Corps members to demonstrate water monitoring techniques along the banks of the Anacostia.

World Water Monitoring Day, which is organized worldwide by the Water Environment Federation, gives youth and their families the opportunity to get involved and learn about the health of their local watersheds by participating in water monitoring activities. Between Sept. 18, and Oct. 18, 2006, citizens around the world visited local streams, rivers, lakes or wetlands to test for basic water quality indicators such as dissolved oxygen, temperature, clarity and pH.

More information about World Water Monitoring Day is at: http://www.worldwatermonitoringday.org Information about EPA’s monitoring activities is at: https://www.epa.gov/owow/monitoring .


###