Anacostia Watershed Society

About the Anacostia Watershed Society

The Anacostia Watershed Society is one of the most effective grassroots, community-based non-profit organizations in the Washington, D.C. metro area.  Since our founding in 1989, the Anacostia Watershed Society has worked to protect and restore the Anacostia River and its watershed for all who live here and for future generations.  Over the past 35 years, AWS has grown from a small group of concerned individuals into an award-winning, $3 million+ non-profit with a staff of 20 that is deeply involved in a cause that affects many different Washington, D.C. area communities within the 176 square-mile watershed.

This is an especially exciting time to join the Anacostia Watershed Society’s team of professionals as we embark on a new and ambitious strategic plan and prepare for the opening of our state-of-the-art environmental education center at Washington, D.C.’s 11^th Street Bridge Park in 2026. The Anacostia Watershed Center will be an enriching resource for the diverse communities who live along both sides of the Anacostia River and will house our award-winning education programs for youth and adults of all ages in the District of Columbia, and Prince George’s and Montgomery counties in Maryland.

The Anacostia Watershed Society’s mission is to conserve and restore the Anacostia Watershed for all who live here and for future generations.  Pursuing this broad mission, the Society takes on issues of nature resources conservation and management, environmental protection, sustainability, community health and welfare, and environmental justice. We collaborate with diverse stakeholders to advocate at all levels of government for policies that promote greater watershed protection and restoration investments. Our field programs work to restore habitat and wildlife, and to connect local communities to the watershed though volunteer activities, boat tours, and canoe and kayak adventures.  Our education programs work with schools, students, and adults throughout Washington, D.C. and Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, engaging them in the classroom and on the river and its banks, providing hands-on experiences that contribute to current restoration projects and prepare the next generation of environmental stewards.  In addition, the Anacostia Watershed Society serves as the voice for the river, educating, alerting, cajoling, and, when necessary, challenging government officials, business interests, thought leaders, and the public to go to greater lengths to protect the ecological health of the watershed, improve water quality, and mitigate the negative effects of habitat loss, pollution stormwater, and climate change.