Swimming in the Potomac River

Badeschiff Pool and beach, River Spree, Berlin.

There is a local op-ed in the Washington Post, "The Potomac River is swimmable again. D.C. should legalize it," by the chair of the Potomac Riverkeeper Network, making the point that since it is now safe to swim in the DC portion of the Potomac River, swimming in the river should be legalized.

I mentioned this in a post in January, "Waterfronts/rivers/canals as districts needing special and ongoing "zoning" and environmental review," and how some cities like Berlin, Paris and sometimes New York, have "pools" within local rivers as an element of parks planning and amenities provision.

Josephine Baker Pool, River Seine, Paris.

Separately, I argue that if you want people to care about rivers and lakes (and beaches) they need to be able to engage with those resources.  

For places without beaches, an in-river or lake pool is a way to do so.

Ideally, the Georgetown BID and other stakeholders could bring something like this about, along with improving ways to access Roosevelt Island.

-- "Revisiting: Access to Theodore Roosevelt Island, a national park in Washington, DC," 2022

Below: Flickr photo by Mr. T in DC of the Potomac River from the Key Bridge.

Launching an initiative to put a pool in the Potomac would bring the issue to a head.  

The Massachusetts organization Trustees for Reservations has been a leader in bringing about greater engagement with and access to Boston Harbor ("Trustees of Reservations offers a glimpse of its first urban waterfront park, on Boston Harbor" and "A new vision for Boston’s waterfront — and climate resiliency," Boston Globe).

Chicago, Cleveland, and of course New York City are other cities with "urban beaches."

Edgewater Beach and Beach House, Cleveland

Philadelphia has a variety of activation initiatives for its river waterfronts too.