I’ve been sounding the alarm for a while now, and I’ll say it again: Don’t let your children, your dogs, or yourself swim, wade, play, or otherwise come into contact with the waters of Rock Creek and tributaries including Soapstone, Reservation 630, and Broad Branch. On a good day, they are polluted with bacteria and other nasties. On a bad day, such as after a rainstorm, the pollution can be off the charts.
In a way, Robert F. Kennedy Junior performed a public service when he posted on X about his Mother’s Day swim in the creek running through Dumbarton Oaks Park. It even made national news, and the reports rightfully pointed out the District’s prohibition on recreating in the waters of these streams, for the reasons above.
But the news reportage missed a key point: Rock Creek and its polluted tributaries have poor – if any – signage warning about the dangers.
In January 2023, I stumbled upon a pair of U.S. Geological Survey water technicians collecting samples from Rock Creek. One told me the E. coli levels were dangerously high, and asked me to warn people. Then I wondered: Where were the public health warnings?
As for warning signage, Rock Creek NPS first forwarded my question to Rock Creek Conservancy, which sent me an example of a sign the organization has placed at some locations:
There’s also a warning online, if you know where to look for it, and know to scroll past the other National Park Service alerts.
But compare this to the warning signage posted by Montgomery County.
In the two and a half years since I started asking NPS and DC agencies about more prominent signage, no changes have been made in the parks, or in DC public space such as trailheads on Albemarle Street, Windom Place, and Broad Branch Road.