• By Nicholas Bonard
• September 24, 2018

Federal Ownership of Washington, DC Shorelines

It's no surprise that the federal government’s landholdings in Washington,DC are significant. Approximately one third of the land area is federally owned. But how much of the waterfront does the federal government own? To find out, NCPC staff took a closer look at the percentage of shorelines controlled by the federal government.

After reviewing the data, we estimate that the federal government owns approximately 85 percent of the shorelines in Washington, DC. The National Park Service (NPS) administers and manages the vast majority of the federally owned shoreline. The Department of Defense and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)are the other two federal entities that administer shoreline property on the Potomac and/or Anacostia Rivers.



A few notes about land ownership shown on the map: While the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Arboretum would appear to be on the Anacostia waterfront, a small area of land between the Arboretum and the river is administered by NPS. Additionally, any land with underlying federal ownership was labeled “federal” in this study, such as the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport which is administered by the FAA but leased to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, an independent airport authority. While most of the land around the Robert F. Kennedy Stadium is administered by NPS and leased to the District of Columbia Government, the land that is within 200 feet of the shoreline is not under lease and completely administered and managed by NPS. The map also shows the shorelines around Poplar Point and the northern portion of Kenilworth Park as being federally owned. While these areas are legislated to be transferred to the District of Columbia, they are still administered by NPS today. Finally, the shoreline in front of the Washington Harbour in Georgetown is not marked as federal, but NPS holds an easement over the shoreline there for public access.

The federally owned percentage depends on whether your definition of shorelines includes the shorelines of the islands within the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers, so we've provided both calculations. When you include islands (like Kingman, Heritage and Theodore Roosevelt islands), the federal government owns approximately 84% of the shoreline. Without the islands in the calculation, the number increases slightly to 85%.

We understand that methodology is important when calculating a number like this, so we have included more information about our data sources and methods in the file linked below, as well as additional tables and maps.

Shoreline Ownership Methodology