The Potomac Challenge
This article was originally published as a Letter to the Editor in the New York Times on May 7, 2026.
The sewage spill in our nation’s capital should be a wake-up call across the country. As the United States celebrates 250 years, we must ask how we’re leaving our waterways for future generations.
As goes the Potomac, so go the rest of our rivers. The challenges we face here, balancing growth with clean water and aligning policy with science, are playing out nationwide.
The science is clear: Restoring waterways like the Potomac and Chesapeake Bay is harder than once believed. New pressures from climate change, development and failing infrastructure are testing whether we have learned the right lessons in the decades-long effort to restore the bay and its rivers.
In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson called the polluted Potomac “a national disgrace,” helping prompt a cleanup movement that significantly improved the health of the river. Now it’s time to tackle today’s challenges.
The Potomac is the nation’s river. Taking care of our waterways is a national responsibility.
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