On January 19th, a sewage main broke near the C&O Canal near Lock 10 and began discharging raw sewage into the Potomac River. In the first 10 days of the line break, over 300 million gallons of sewage poured into the Potomac River.

For reference, this is a volume greater than the entire Tidal Basin can hold.

Dangerous levels of E.Coli, Staph and MRSA are being recorded as far south as the Georgetown Waterfront as of January 28th, and public safety authorities are advising against any contact with the river at this point — as far south as Prince George’s County as I understand it.

Lock 10 is my home water. I have spent the last two years wading and fishing literally every inch of water from well below Lock 8 to well above Lock 10, including Wade Island, Swainson’s Island, and all the other islands that can be reached from the Maryland shore depending on water level. It is was home to painted turtles, alligator snapping turtles, bluebirds, kites, swallows, egrets, herons, deer — swimming out to the islands — so many different species of sunfish, walleye, native white catfish, invasive blue catfish, smallmouth bass, pike, snakehead, various sculpin species — including the Potomac Sculpin, which can change the. color of its skin like a chameleon to match the rocks or sand in its environment — crayfish, muskrats, agkistrodon species, carp, and at least one black bear — among others,

As I write this, 21 days after the sewage line break, DC is routing the spill into the C&O Canal — literally creating a river of shit — and then sucking it back up into a different line downstream.

This is what progress looks like.