On January 19, 2026, a 6-foot-wide section of the Potomac Interceptor pipeline burst underneath Cabin John, Maryland, dumping hundreds of millions of gallons of untreated sewage into the Potomac River. Some frequent users of the river report increased stress, fear for the future and a collapse of trust in DC Water, Washington’s water utility.
DC Water Chief Executive Officer David Gadis listens as Potomac Riverkeeper Dean Naujoks speaks at a question-and-answer section at the utility company’s community meeting in Bethesda, Md on Feb. 26, 2026. Some guests, like Naujoks, took a confrontational tone during the question-and-answer segment of the meaning, accusing DC Water of negligence leading up to the ecological disaster. DC Water officials said they had not yet discovered the root cause of the Jan. 19 collapse.
Cabinets for fishing flies sit empty at District Angling in Arlington, Va., on May 2, 2026. District Angling has seen demand plummet this season, from the combined effects of the sewage spill, drought, inflation and structural changes in the outdoor equipment industry.
Washington Canoe Club member David Cottingham poses for a portrait at the club’s grounds in Washington on March 1, 2026. During the warmer months, Cottingham said, he paddles on the Potomac River two to three times a week. In the wake of the Potomac Interceptor collapse, he is cautious to return to the water until he is sure it is safe to touch.
Water streamed through a shallow trench from under the Washington Canoe Club building into the Potomac River. Cottingham said the water originates at the C&O Canal 25 feet above the clubhouse and seeps through the canal’s clay liner, out of the embankment and over the clubhouse’s concrete floor. Because water can escape the canal’s lining, he said, the sewage DC Water was redirecting from the collapsed Potomac Interceptor pipeline into the canal likely was as well. Cottingham was proven right weeks later when Potomac Riverkeeper Network released a report detailing the leaking of sewage from the canal into a Potomac tributary.
Fisherman Papoose Smith checks his lines on April 25, 2026. He is taking care to avoid making contact with river water. He runs a nonprofit that takes at-risk youth from Southeast Washington on natural excursions, but the idea of taking them fishing in Potomac worries him about their safety.
