Would you swim in the Gowanus Canal? A new proposal could make it happen

There was a time when the idea of swimming in the Gowanus Canal was less “refreshing dip” and more “instant tetanus shot.” But according to state environmental officials, the future may look more like a pool party than a post-apocalyptic nightmare.

The New York Department of Environmental Conservation has floated a plan to reclassify the Gowanus Canal’s water quality in a way that could eventually make swimming possible. Right now, the infamous Brooklyn waterway is ranked “Class SD,” which—believe it or not—meets the standard for supporting fish life. The DEC’s proposal would bump the canal up to “Class SC,” a designation that requires water to be clean enough for swimming and boating. In other words: not just carp, but cannonballs.

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Of course, no one’s diving in tomorrow. The canal remains a federal Superfund site and the Environmental Protection Agency is still knee-deep (literally) in one of the city’s largest cleanups. Key to the effort are two massive tanks, one of them big enough to hold 8 million gallons of stormwater and sewage that would otherwise flood straight into the canal every time the city’s drainage system gets overwhelmed. The tanks are slated to be finished by 2030, but experts say it will take several more years after that before the water quality is truly swim ready.

“This is definitely an improvement for water quality in the Gowanus,” Em Ruby, senior advocacy and policy coordinator at Riverkeeper, told Crain’s. “It’s designating it to meet swimmable water quality standards, but because of other circumstances, swimming is not considered a best use.” Translation: Let’s not break out the floaties just yet.

Still, the possibility of a swimmable Gowanus is huge—not just for Brooklynites with sturdy immune systems, but also for developers banking on the neighborhood’s 2021 rezoning, which green-lit new housing and retail along the banks. A canal that’s safe enough for paddleboards, laps or even a waterfront beer garden with a swim dock could shift the area’s identity from “industrial wasteland” to “urban waterfront oasis.”

Until then, the canal remains more cautionary tale than chlorinated pool. Yes, a few adventurous (and questionably sane) swimmers have tested the waters over the years, but the rest of us will just have to wait—and hope—that one day a lazy backstroke down Brooklyn’s most notorious waterway isn’t just the stuff of local legend.