The Washington Channel is a channel parallel to the

Potomac River The Potomac River () is in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and flows from the Potomac Highlands in West Virginia to Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography D ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

It is located between the

Southwest Waterfront The Southwest Waterfront is a neighborhood in Washington, D.C. (Southwest), Southwest Washington, D.C. The Southwest quadrant is the smallest of Washington's four Address (geography)#Quadrants, quadrants, and the Southwest Waterfront is one of on ...

on the east side and

East Potomac Park East Potomac Park is a park located on a man-made island in the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., United States. The island is between the Washington Channel and the Potomac River, and on it the park lies southeast of the Jefferson Memorial and t ...

on the west side. The channel is long, receives outflow from the Tidal Basin at its north end, and empties into the

Anacostia River The Anacostia River is a river in the Mid-Atlantic states, Mid Atlantic region of the United States. It flows from Prince George's County, Maryland, Prince George's County in Maryland into Washington, D.C., where it joins with the Washington Ch ...

at Hains Point at its south end. The channel's depth ranges from to . The Washington Channel's east bank is lined with restaurants, inns, and marinas including Washington Marina, Gangplank Marina (the only

liveaboard Liveaboard can mean: *Someone who makes a boat, typically a small yacht in a marina, their primary residence. Powerboats and cruising sailboats are commonly used for living aboard, as well as houseboats which are designed primarily as a resid ...

marina in the District of Columbia), and Capital Yacht Club. The Maine Avenue Fish Market is situated at the north end of the channel, south of the 14th Street Bridge complex. The ''Titanic'' Memorial,

Fort Lesley J. McNair Fort Lesley J. McNair, also historically known as the Washington Arsenal, is a United States Army post located on the tip of Buzzard Point, the peninsula that lies at the confluence of the Potomac River and the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C ...

, the

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, and James Creek Marina are located near the south end of the channel. As of August 2010, USS ''Sequoia''—a former United States presidential yacht—is docked at a pier in the Washington Channel.

Transfer of responsibility

On June 16, 2010, District of Columbia Delegate

Eleanor Holmes Norton Eleanor Holmes Norton (born June 13, 1937) is an American politician, lawyer, and human rights activist. Norton is a congressional delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives, where she has represented the District of Columbia since 1991 as ...

introduced a bill (H.R. 5545) into the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

during the

111th United States Congress The 111th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government from January 3, 2009, until January 3, 2011. It began during the last weeks of the George W. Bush administration, with t ...

that would have transferred responsibility for part of the Washington Channel from the Army Corps of Engineers to the District.Bill summary and status at

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: The House passed the bill on July 20, 2010. The

Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works The United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works is responsible for legislation and oversight of the natural and built environment and for studying matters concerning environmental protection and resource conservation and util ...

received the bill on the following day. Norton's bill was part of a larger plan to redevelop the

, some goals of which are "to extend docks and increase maritime activity just a short eyeshot from the U.S. Capitol building.". The

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a Maritime Security Regimes, maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with cust ...

, the

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

, and the Army Corps of Engineers agreed that this transfer "will not affect navigation interests or adversely affect navigation safety." The area under consideration extended from the north end of the Channel to just south of the police pier, totaling of water Crossings However, the Senate did not pass the legislation. Delegate Norton reintroduced the bill into the House of Representatives on February 15, 2011, during the

112th United States Congress The 112th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, from January 3, 2011, until January 3, 2013. It convened in Washington, D.C., on January 3, 2011, and ended on January 3, 2013, 17 ...

. The 2011 bill (H.R. 723) was incorporated into H.R. 2297 (To promote the development of the Southwest waterfront in the District of Columbia, and for other purposes), which became

Public Law Public law is the part of law that governs relations and affairs between legal persons and a government, between different institutions within a state, between different branches of governments, as well as relationships between persons that ...

112-143 (126 Stat. 990 - 126 Stat. 992) after

President Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. Ob ...

signed it on July 9, 2012.

Crossings

* Tidal Basin Outlet Bridge carrying Ohio Drive * Washington Channel Bridge carrying 14th Street/ U.S. Route 1 *

CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of track, it is the lead ...

RF&P Subdivision rail bridge * Francis Case Memorial Bridge carrying Interstate 395 *

Washington Metro The Washington Metro, often abbreviated as the Metro and formally the Metrorail, is a rapid transit system serving the Washington metropolitan area of the United States. It is administered by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority ...

Yellow Line tunnel

References

External links

NOAA Nautical Chart 12289NOAA Tides and Currents – Washington Channel station
{{Coord, 38, 52, 16.9, N, 77, 1, 14.9, W, display=title Anacostia River Chesapeake Bay watershed Potomac River watershed Bodies of water of Washington, D.C. Channels of the United States Southwest (Washington, D.C.)