2023 Potomac River Report Card

The Potomac River’s health is improving, but it’s not yet safe for swimming and fishing.

Potomac Conservancy scores the Potomac River's health a "B" grade, an improvement from a "B-" three years ago and a D in 2011.

The Potomac River is in the middle of a comeback and is much cleaner than it used to be. Today, it’s common to see bald eagles, fish, and other wildlife thriving along the river and crowds of people visiting its shorelines and enjoying water activities.

There’s been great progress to clean up our “Nation’s River,” but pollution remains a problem.

Until the Potomac River is safe enough for us to eat its fish and swim in its waters without risking our health, our job’s not done.

Our community deserves clean water. The Potomac is the country’s wildest urban river and the life force of our region. Five million people depend on the river for drinking water and rely on it for outdoor enjoyment.

It’s time we enjoyed a swimmable, fishable Potomac River.

What makes the Potomac River unsafe for swimming and fishing?

Due to public health concerns, it is currently illegal to swim in the Potomac River and eat its fish in and around Washington, DC.

Studies are being conducted to assess whether lifting DC’s swimming ban will be possible in the next two to three years. If that happens, however, the river will still be off-limits during and after wet weather because stormwater runoff causes pollution to spike to dangerous levels.

Pollutants that are harming local waters include:

What’s causing pollution in the Potomac River?

There are many ways pollution enters our waterways. Industrial pollution, wastewater effluence, and agricultural runoff are common sources of pollution that are in steady decline.

Polluted urban runoff is the only growing source of pollution to the Potomac River. Polluted runoff occurs when excess rainwater flows across paved and hardened surfaces and carries street oils, lawn fertilizers, trash, and even diluted sewage directly into local streams.

Who wants to swim in that?

What are the biggest challenges to cleaning up the Potomac River?

Restoring swimmable and fishable waters to the Potomac River is an ongoing fight — and one that is getting harder.

Rapid deforestation

in the region is happening at an alarming rate and directly contributing to increasing polluted runoff. Worse still, streamside trees receive a D+ in this report signaling the region’s failure to meet its planting goals. Forested lands stabilize stream banks, absorb rainwater, and filter polluted runoff. Forests quite literally tree-t our water.

The climate crisis

is intensifying storms and lengthening droughts in our region — extreme conditions that weaken nature’s defenses and increase polluted runoff. Rising river levels, hotter stream temperatures, and changing seasons are putting further strains on the local ecosystem.

Potomac Climate Report

What will it take to restore the Potomac? Is there any hope?

Our community is so close to enjoying a swimmable, fishable Potomac River – but we must act now to make this future a reality.

Help Potomac Conservancy tree-t our streams and stop polluted runoff from destroying our hometown river, drinking water sources, and wildlife habitat. Join our local movement of 30,000 friends who are taking action for clean water!