The U.S. Geological Survey has released an analysis of the Watts Branch of the Anacostia River that documents how restoration work on this urban tributary has had a substantial impact on the local economy.
According to the survey, the restored tributary indirectly accounts for 45 jobs, $2.6 million in local labor income and $3.4 million in value added to the local D.C. metropolitan area in 2011.
The Anacostia watershed is one of the priority areas for interagency cooperation in both President Obama’s America’s Great Outdoors Initiative and the Urban Waters Federal Partnership.
D.C. and federal agencies formed the Watts Branch restoration partnership in 2010 to restore a segment of one of the most urbanized watersheds in the Chesapeake Bay drainage basin. Completed in 2011, the restoration project was funded largely by the District of Columbia’s Department of Environment and also carried out by the Department of the Interior’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service along with the National Park Service, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington Water and Sewer and several local organizations.
Environmental degradation and sewage infrastructure was addressed along Watts Branch, which flows almost 5 miles to the Anacostia River.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other partners restored the eroded stream channel, which was depositing nearly 1,500 tons of sediment into the Anacostia watershed each year. Nearby sewer lines were relocated and improved to address and prevent future sewage leaks.
Infrastructure and environmental restoration improved water quality, increased floodplain storage, reduced erosion and improved stream habitat.
After the restoration, a local nonprofit, Washington Parks and People, has begun using Watts Branch as an outdoor classroom to prepare an emerging workforce for jobs in urban and community forestry.
“The Watt’s Branch restoration turned a degraded stream into an urban sanctuary within an underserved community,” the analysis concluded.
The Anacostia River Watershed also is one of the original pilot project areas of the interagency Urban Waters Federal Partnership led by EPA. Through this partnership, the Interior Department and 10 other federal departments work to reconnect urban areas with their waterways, particularly those that are overburdened or economically distressed.
source: U.S. Geological Survey
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