Drainage, Stormwater & Hardscape in Southeast Washington, DC

Drainage in the Anacostia quadrant

Southeast Washington is split by the Anacostia River — the watershed that covers most of the eastern half of the District. The portions of the quadrant southeast of the river are, in the neighborhoods' own words, tree-lined and neighborly, and their drainage runs to the Anacostia and its tributaries; Fort Dupont Park alone protects an important sub-watershed of the river.

How a property drains for permitting and rebate purposes comes down to which ward it's in. Most of Southeast — Ward 7 and Ward 8 — sits in the separate storm-sewer (MS4) system; the Near Southeast side around Capitol Hill (Ward 6) is on the older combined sewer, where stormwater and sewage share one pipe. Actaeon's drainage work — French drains, regrading, downspout extensions, dry wells, and yard leveling — moves water off the lot before the receiving system becomes the problem.

Hardscape and drainage for historic homes

Southeast holds some of the District's oldest working-class housing. In the Anacostia Historic District, "nowhere else in the District of Columbia does there exist such a collection of late-19th and early-20th century small-scale frame and brick working-class housing" — roughly 550 buildings built between 1854 and 1930. Nearby, Hillcrest is nearly all single-family homes on sizeable lots, and Congress Heights mixes garden apartments with older single-family bungalows.

Homes with that much history come with aging drainage: settled grades, downspouts pointed at the foundation, and retaining walls that have held the same ground for generations. Actaeon rebuilds and installs retaining walls, patios, walkways, and stone features, and regrades around them so water sheds away from the house. In Washington, DC a retaining wall isn't a pour-and-go job — it needs a Department of Buildings (DOB) permit with a concurrent Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE) review, and we build to that standard.

DC permits and the RiverSmart rebate Southeast can use

In the District, building permits come from the Department of Buildings (DOB) at 1100 4th Street SW — there is no county permit office — and land disturbance plus most retaining walls also draw a DOEE stormwater review. We build to that standard.

DOEE's RiverSmart Homes program installs rain barrels for a $100 copayment (up to two per property) and plants shade trees at no cost for essentially any DC home, and RiverSmart Rewards discounts the DOEE stormwater fee (up to 55%) and DC Water's Clean Rivers charge (up to 20%) for properties with qualifying green infrastructure.

Where Southeast stands apart is the big one: the permeable-pavers and re-vegetation rebate, up to $6,000. DOEE restricts it to homes "within the MS4 sewershed, in Ward 7, or in Ward 8" — and most of Southeast is Ward 7 or Ward 8, so a large share of the quadrant's homeowners genuinely qualify. Eligibility follows the ward, not the river: after the 2022 redistricting, Ward 8 reaches across the Anacostia (Navy Yard is now Ward 8) and Ward 7 takes in Hill East on the west bank, while Near Southeast around Capitol Hill (Ward 6) does not qualify. Check your ward with DOEE before you count on it.

Neighborhoods We Serve in Southeast DC

Serving Southeast DC neighborhoods including Anacostia, Congress Heights, Hillcrest, Fort Dupont, Barry Farm, Penn Branch, Fort Davis, Fairfax Village, Naylor Gardens, Dupont Park, Randle Highlands, Twining, Fort Stanton, Garfield Heights, Marshall Heights, Benning Ridge, Shipley Terrace, Washington Highland, Fairlawn, and Bellevue.