Volunteers clean up flood debris at Fletcher’s Cove after historic rainfall

Despite below-freezing temperatures, a group of more than 60 volunteers gathered Saturday morning at Fletcher’s Cove along the Potomac River for a daunting task: clearing out trash and fallen trees left behind from severe flooding. Local conservation organizations Friends of Fletcher’s Cove and Potomac Conservancy co-hosted the cleanup.

“It’s really a gem in Washington,” Friends of Fletcher’s Cove spokesperson Mike Bailey said of the popular fishing destination and small-boat launch located near Canal and Reservoir roads NW within the C&O Canal National Historical Park.

But heavy rain and melting snow in the last few months meant the “entire area was covered in driftwood,” Bailey said.

Last year was DC’s wettest year on record, according to The Weather Channel, and the result was evident at the cleanup.

“This is as bad as it’s been,” volunteer Rob Catalanotto said of the appearance of fallen trees blanketing the ground along the river.

Due to the federal government shutdown, which had ended the afternoon before the event, National Park Service employees had been unable to clear the flood debris on their normal schedule, Catalanotto and Bailey said.

Bailey noted this was the first major cleanup the Friends group has hosted. Potomac Conservancy, however, hosts multiple cleanups along the Potomac River every year, according to Kyaira Ware, the organization’s community conservation manager.

The Park Service is expected to clear out large pieces of debris that volunteers placed into piles, according to NBC4. Ware said that such cleanups help prevent pollutants from contaminating the river and harming fish and other animals. Volunteers at previous cleanups along the Potomac have also planted trees to prevent pollutants from entering the water, she said.

Potomac Conservancy’s cleanups typically attract between 60 and 80 volunteers, Ware said.

Christina Frost, a DC resident, chose to volunteer for Saturday’s event because she enjoys spending time at Fletcher’s Cove during fishing season in the spring.

Frost said that while “there was a tremendous amount of work to be done,” people should “take part in maintaining the spaces they enjoy.”

Hannah Brubach, another volunteer, said that she decided to come to the cleanup after she was persuaded by her boyfriend who volunteers often.

“Wherever the trash and the wood is going, it’s going to impact all of us,” Brubach said.

Meanwhile, the Friends of Fletcher’s Cove group continues to seek solutions to long-term issues at the site with sedimentation and the aging dock — issues exacerbated by last year’s flood waters. The group has submitted a proposal to the National Park Service to help pay for either replacement of sections of the dock or emergency repairs.

The proposal, which was addressed to C&O Canal Park Service Superintendent Kevin Brandt, was sent on Dec. 6.

“Our coalition was formed in early 2015 after park enthusiasts lost access to the Cove’s floating dock at the end of the previous boating season,” Bailey wrote in a December newsletter. “The current fragile condition of older dock sections will likely pose a similar threat to public access.’

Friends of Fletcher’s Cove is awaiting a response from the National Park Service officials who manage the C&O Canal National Historical Park.

The park’s superintendent, Kevin Brandt, told The DC Line this week that he hadn’t yet seen the request but will consider the proposal, as his office has done with past requests from the Friends group. He also noted that the prolonged government shutdown had led to administrative delays within the National Park Service.

“We’ll certainly give thought to whatever they have requested,” Brandt said. “We believe that Fletcher’s Cove is an important visitor access point.”