WASHINGTON — A major new phase of DC Water’s long-running Clean Rivers Project is officially underway.
District leaders gathered at West Potomac Park on Monday to mark the start of construction on the Potomac River Tunnel, a massive infrastructure project designed to dramatically reduce sewage overflows into the Potomac River.
The tunnel will stretch 5.5 miles underground, running from the Georgetown waterfront past the National Mall and Hains Point before connecting to an existing system near the Anacostia River. Once complete in 2030, the tunnel is expected to cut the volume of combined sewer overflows into the Potomac by 93% in an average year of rainfall — preventing more than 600 million gallons of polluted runoff from entering the river…