2024 Drinking Water Stations on Met Branch Trail

Gordon Chaffin is asking you to donate for costs to set up and maintain drinking water stations on the Metropolitan Branch Trail in 2024. In 2023, with the Friends of the Metropolitan Branch Trail (FoMBT), we set up five water stations along the 4.8-mile MBT to create access to hydration and trash cans for trail users in gaps of existing, permanent drinking fountains.*

>>Sign-up to help with the water stations, whether or not you donate: https://forms.gle/M4xuw7SpJXGyLf5H7

The total start-up cost to Gordon in 2023 was $2,117.72 in 2023. Looking ahead to 2024, with a goal of water station operation from early April through early November, we’re setting a fundraising target of $2,000.00.

With these funds, we intend to:

1 - Re-install and maintain four drinking water stations

2 - Work to increase public and personal safety on the trail

3 - Advocate for MBT improvements on current and new trail areas

4 - Recruit members and community partners for trail activations.

More info:

FoMBT’s goal is first to serve trail users during warm months with necessary amenities for community wellbeing. Second, we want to advocate for improvements to the existing and new trail segments that meet human needs that are overlooked in bike/walk trail design: permanent drinking fountains and restrooms open 24/7/365, numerous and regularly emptied trash and recycling cans, and areas for rest and meeting up with others. We also want it to be easier for beginners to navigate the trail. That’s why we invested a few hundred dollars in 2023 on three temporary “wayfinding” signs.

FoMBT's actions are creating advocacy impact: In 2023, the developer of Bryant Street planned to install a new drinking water fountain at the dog park after seeing FoMBT’s water station for the pups. D.C. government representatives attended our December happy hour and now may add low-cost amenities on future trail segments north of Fort Totten. We’re meeting with council members and other officials with D.C. budget requests that include new, anti-graffiti wall panels on the Rhode Island Avenue pedestrian bridge.

Threats to public safety on the MBT have become more pressing, and we want to do whatever is possible in crime prevention as a scrappy community group. We’ve started working with D.C. Police. The Ft. Totten MBT section has a high-tech police camera and light system, which we want to see added to the popular Eckington section. Other D.C.-area trails have blue light emergency beacons, which are used commonly on college campuses. The lighting on the southern MBT section is much less bright than the overhead lighting on the trail next to the trash transfer station. We appreciate the MPD motorcycle and bike patrols that do exist today, but other infrastructure upgrades are necessary.

While water start-up costs will be less in 2024, FoMBT hopes to bring each station to the complete services seen at the Carlos Rosario station in 2023: a 5-gallon water jug refreshed 2-3 times per week, a dog water bowl secured to the station, human drinking cups safe from weather with a trash can. We’re hoping to recruit a rotation of 5-8 water station helpers, each with a maintenance kit, compared to the duo of volunteers in 2023. We hope to do several trail clean-ups in 2024 and purchase a few extra items in vandalism or wear and tear cases. FoMBT installed landscape fencing at Bryant Street Dog Park in 2023, and much higher maintenance costs are coming soon to play surfaces, lighting, and retention walls.

We want to print additional marketing materials and set up tables at public events to recruit more members. It would be nice to have money for a small storage unit when we break down the water stations instead of occupying a large part of Gordon’s apartment. Funds are also necessary to begin nonprofit paperwork and interface more officially with the government on permits and seeking grants.

We’re learning from the failure points and challenges of the existing water stations. What kinds of water purification are possible without electricity? Can we replace the model of a jug and wasteful, expensive cups with a drinking fountain spigot connected to a water tank? Is there a better anti-theft system than 4-5 cable locks per station? Adding a posting/message board at every station would be great. The current trend of taping event flyers to light poles is not ideal.

In the past and even today, trails like the MBT were designed by and served a small, privileged audience of confident bike commuters. Today, successful walk/bike trails connect essential and recreational destinations for travelers of all races, ages, and abilities. It’s just as easy to imagine a twiggy bike commuter navigating the whole trail in 25 minutes as a family on a multi-hour stroll with young kids and their dogs, with needs of water, restrooms, and sheltered rest areas.

Within 1-3 years, we aim to incorporate as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and seek funds with grants, membership, sponsorships, and tax-deductible donations. In Gordon’s experience, it’s folly to do all the nonprofit paperwork and board recruiting before you’re sure you have sustained community demand for your services and a path to financial sustainability.

We look to the Friends of the Mt. Vernon Trail as an inspiration. FoMVT recently received a $500,000 grant from Arlington County to perform trail maintenance, “including edging the trail, replacing boardwalk bridge components like decking, cutting back vegetation overgrowth, grinding out asphalt root heaves and power washing scum from bridge decks.” We want to support the Bryant Street Dog Park as Eckington Parks and Arts supports the Eckington Dog Park, and Friends of NoMa Dogs supports Swampoodle Dog Park.

*NOTE*: The National Park Service removed our water station at Fort Totten shortly after initial installation. NPS did not accept our permit request to return a station to that location and serve trail users at the north end of the MBT.