Coalition launches real-time water quality dashboard for Potomac, Anacostia, and Shenandoah rivers

The Reservoir Center for Water Solutions and three partner organizations launched a publicly accessible water quality monitoring dashboard June 3, giving residents, paddlers, and researchers real-time data on conditions across the Anacostia, Potomac, and Shenandoah rivers.

The initiative pulls data from nine sensor sites and tracks indicators including dissolved oxygen, conductivity, water temperature, chloride, chlorophyll, turbidity, and blue-green algae pigment, according to a press release by Reservoir Center. The dashboard updates continuously and is available at water-quality.reservoircenter.org.

"This tool represents an important step forward in advancing transparency, accessibility, and long-term stewardship of our river systems," said Nicole Horvath, program manager at the Reservoir Center.

E. coli data, which requires manual lab testing, is integrated separately through the Chesapeake Monitoring Cooperative and is not updated in real time.

"This dashboard is allowing us to see other problems, respond to them quicker, and provide real-time access to information to people who sail, kayak, or fish on these waters," Anacostia Riverkeeper Trey Sherard said.

A section of the Potomac Interceptor sewer line collapsed Jan. 19, according to DC Water's Potomac Interceptor Collapse page. The Maryland Department of the Environment estimated the overflow at 243 million gallons of untreated wastewater into the Potomac River near Little Falls in Montgomery County.

Betsy Nicholas, president of Potomac Riverkeeper Network, cited the spill as a driver for the program. "The recent catastrophic sewage spill in the Potomac taught us many lessons," Nicholas said. "Among them is the vital importance of reliable and timely water quality monitoring and reporting."

"When communities can actually see the health of their rivers in real time, they are better equipped to advocate for the investments needed to protect them," Christopher E. Williams, president and CEO of the Anacostia Watershed Society, said in the release.

The Washington, D.C.-based Reservoir Center counts more than 80 water-focused nonprofit organizations among its members.

Partners include Anacostia Riverkeeper, the Anacostia Watershed Society, and Potomac Riverkeeper Network, three regional watershed advocacy organizations. Xylem, a water technology company, donated the monitoring equipment.