The Potomac Sewage Spill Is Devastating — It’s Also Disturbingly Common

The following Letter to the Editor was originally published in The Washington Post on March 1, 2026.

There was an astounding sentence in the Feb. 23 Metro article “An island unto itself” about Minnie’s Island: “In a normal year, about 600 million gallons of sewage are dumped into the Potomac River.”

As devastating as the recent Potomac sewage spill is, the more painful truth is that it is common. Hundreds of millions of gallons of sewage routinely flow into our region’s rivers, the cumulative total of frequent smaller incidents. And sewage is just a fraction of the problem. Every time it rains and snows, bacteria, waste, trash and toxic chemicals wash off our streets and farms into our water.

Water pollution has become normal. The Potomac sewage spill reminds us that it shouldn’t be.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation and many partner organizations have for decades called for more investment to modernize wastewater systems and address water pollution across the region. That includes essential programs such as the federal Clean Water State Revolving Fund, and continued state investments in programs that protect waterways. This spill is rightly being treated as a public health emergency by leaders from the local level all the way up to the president and Congress. We need the same urgency and concern all the time.