For the first time in more than 50 years, people will have a chance to (legally) swim in the Anacostia River this summer. Organizers of the one-time swim event announced it will take place on July 8 at Kingman Island.

“We live in a city with two rivers,” says Trey Sherard, with Anacostia Riverkeeper, the nonprofit behind the swim even. “I really hope for a future where everybody can enjoy that and it’s not a source of fear or concern.”

Swimming has been officially off limits in D.C.’s rivers since the 1970s due to high levels of pollution — specifically, bacteria from sewage overflow. Over the past two decades, DC Water has been working on a massive, $2.7 billion project to fix the problem and keep sewage out of the water. In 2018, the first major phase of the project went online, and has so far reduced sewage overflows into the Anacostia River by 90%. When the next segment of the project opens later this year, its expected to reduce overflows by 98%.

That reduction in sewage overflow has translated into improved water quality in recent years. Since 2019, Anacostia Riverkeeper and other local groups have been conducting weekly water quality testing at dozens of sites on the Anacostia River, Potomac River, and Rock Creek. Data over that time period show that there are five locations on the rivers where the water meets standards for safe swimming more than 80% of the time during the summer. On the Anacostia River, those include Kingman Island and Buzzard Point.

The splash event will be free, but you have to register ahead of time, and tickets are going quickly. Organizers plan to rope off a 10 ft. by 50 ft. area of the river and will have life guards on duty. Water quality testing will be conducted three days ahead of time to make sure its safe to swim, and the event will be postponed to July 22 if it’s too polluted or if there’s a heavy rain.

This year, the water quality has been better than usual because of the lack of rain. Rain washes pollution from roads and parking lots into storm drains, flushing into the rivers. In a heavy rainfall, sanitary sewer overflows still occur occasionally.

D.C. officials have long discussed easing or eventually lifting the swim ban. In 2018, the District created an exemption, allowing swim events in the Anacostia if organizers obtained a permit. The same exemption already existed for the Potomac.

Anacostia Riverkeeper planned to hold a splash day in 2022, but were unable to get the insurance required by the District in time.

“The problem last year was not water quality,” says Sherard. “Water quality was pretty good most of the summer. The problem last summer was red tape.”

Swimming in the Anacostia River may be a hard sell, Sherard acknowledges. The river has long been known as one of the most polluted urban rivers in the country — a reputation that’s hard to shake.

Since the event was first publicized this week, Sherard says there’s been plenty of negative reaction.

“The comments have been brutal,” says Sherard. Still, with tickets getting snapped up quickly, he’s confident there will be enough people who are interested to fill the event to capacity.

“Then we’ll show everybody else as we go forward,” he says.

Anacostia Riverkeeper plans to expand swimming opportunities next year, possibly with multiple events over the summer.

“Eventually, as we document that it’s safe to swim and we show more people that it’s safe to swim, we want to see the District move towards pulling down the swim ban, at least for the sites that we know are regularly safe,” Sherard says.