ANACOSTIA WATERSHED SOCIETY INC
4302 Baltimore Avenue, Bladensburg, MD 20710 www.anacostiaws.org

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Organizations Filed Purposes: THE ANACOSTIA WATERSHED SOCIETY'S MISSION IS TO PROTECT AND RESTORE THE ANACOSTIA RIVER BY BRINGING PARTNERS AND COMMUNITIES TOGETHER TO ACHIEVE A CLEAN AND SAFE ANACOSTIA RIVER FOR THE BENEFIT OF ALL LIVING IN ITS WATERSHED AND FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS.

Stewardship: AWS engaged community members of all ages in stewardship action to increase their awareness of the river, foster enjoyment of nature, and motivate them to further their stewardship of the river and restore the health of the watershed.AWS reduced pollution entering the river by installing rain gardens and green infrastructure practices in the watershed that will capture and treat approximately 50,000 gallons of stormwater runoff on an annual basis. We engaged thousands of volunteers to plant more than 1,000 trees and 4,460 wetland species and remove 14,000 square feet of invasive vegetation, 51 tons of trash, and 644 tires from the watershed. Through our new freshwater mussel restoration program,we have propagated and released nearly 10,000 mussels in floating baskets in the river. On an annual basis, these mussels will filter more than 34 million gallons of water, the equivalent of 52 Olympic-size swimming pools.

Environmental Education: AWS increased awareness, knowledge, skills, and a sense of stewardship among watershed residents and stakeholders to affect positive behavior changes for the health of the River. AWS engaged more than 4,000 students in our three-part, service-learning education programs, which involved hands-on classroom education, a field experience on the Anacostia River, and a river restoration project. Through our Rice Rangers and Junior Rice Rangers programs, more than 1,000 students grew more than 4,000 native wetland plants in their classrooms and then transplanted them into Kingman and Heritage Marsh. Through our Schools in Schools Shad Restoration program, 1,442 students raised and released 24,200 shad fry into the Anacostia River. Because shad is an anadromous species, the fish will migrate back to the Anacostia River from the Chesapeake Bay to spawn as adults, ultimately helping to restore this once prolific river species. AWS provided professional development and mentoring to more than 100 teachers from DC and Maryland schools. These trainings equipped teachers with content knowledge, lesson plans, and materials, which enable them to incorporate environmental education and watershed concepts into their curricula. Forty-three students participated in our Saturday Environmental Academy, a program designed to engage middle school students through 7 weeks of leadership and environmental skills learning. Field trip highlights included visiting rehabilitated raptors along the Anacostia with the Earth Conservation Corps, planting potatoes and enjoying a native plant hike, planting native trees, touring the Blue Plains Wastewater Treatment Plant, and serving as environmental stewards at River Terrace Park for the AWS Earth Day Cleanup. The final session of the spring program brought students and SEA family members out onto the Anacostia with National Capital Area Women's Paddling Association Community Boathouse.

Advocacy: AWS continued to influence policies and resources favorably towards the restoration of the Anacostia River, with a particular emphasis on enhanced stormwater controls, reduction of trash inputs, and increased attention to remediation of legacy toxic chemicals impacting the river. DC Mayor Bowser signed the Fisheries and Wildlife Omnibus Amendment Act, which created a critical area and emphasizes living shorelines and wetlands in development along the District's rivers and tributaries. AWS President, Jim Foster, served on the Leadership Council for a Cleaner Anacostia River, established by Mayor Bowser, through which we are working with stakeholders and consultants to complete the remedial investigation of legacy toxics in the river. Remedial solutions (such as dredging, capping, excavating, constructing wetlands and living shorelines, and increasing baseline flow) are being explored and discussed. AWS released the annual State of the River Report Card. Although the river's health still received a failing grade, the score was higher than last year and the data revealed several positive trends that demonstrate improvement. Last, but not least, DC Water's Clean Rivers tunnel began Operation in March 2018, as a result of a lawsuit filed by our organization more than a decade ago prevented more than 5 billion gallons of combined sewage and more than 900 tons of trash from polluting the Anacostia River.

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Data for this page was sourced from XML published by IRS (public 990 form dataset) from: https://s3.amazonaws.com/irs-form-990/202013189349301106_public.xml