The Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed, U.S. Senator Cory Booker’s office, New Jersey Audubon, Trout Unlimited, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Youth Corps of Phillipsburg, North Jersey RC&D, and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) gathered for a press conference Tuesday to discuss the significance New Jersey plays within Delaware River Basin and new funding coming to the state. For the first time in history, dedicated federal funding to Delaware River states was secured through the Subcommittee on the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations omnibus bill in the amount of $5 million for the Delaware River Basin Restoration Program (DRBRP).

U.S. Senator Tom Carper, U.S. Senator Chris Coons, the Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed, Ducks Unlimited, Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service gathered for a press conference Friday to discuss the significance Delaware plays within Delaware River Basin and new funding coming to the state. For the first time in history, dedicated federal funding to Delaware River Basin states was secured through the Subcommittee on the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations omnibus bill in the amount of $5 million for the Delaware River Basin Restoration Program (DRBRP).

Starting in June 2018, I am delighted to announce that I have joined the Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed (CDRW) team as Director. I join CDRW with several years’ experience in coalition building, communications, and policy strategy - a skill set I'm excited to utilize with the Coalition! I look forward to meeting with partners to talk through priorities and goals, but until then, here is a little bit about myself and how I came to work for the Coalition.

The recently-released Brandywine-Christina State of the Watershed report provides an overview of the watershed, along with the current trends and conditions of several indicators of watershed health. The report was a collaborative effort of several partners in the Brandywine-Christina Watershed, including: The Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art, Stroud Water Research Center, Natural Lands, Brandywine Red Clay Alliance, The Nature Conservancy in Delaware, the University of Delaware Water Resources Center, and the Chester County Water Resources Authority. The report was funded by the William Penn Foundation through the Delaware River Watershed Initiative.

On May 3rd, 2018 over 160 people joined together to educate, learn, and celebrate the Brandywine-Christina Watershed at the Clean Water: A Bi-State Solution conference. The conference focused on the collaborative efforts made to improve the watershed health, ongoing projects being done, and a future focus on the next steps to ensure the health of the watershed.

Sandy beach sunsets, rolling tree-covered hills, serene fishing scenes, and tall stately bridges – these were some of the entries in the “Beauty” contest for the Delaware River Means campaign. While many entries came in, Karen Harmon’s photo of the Delaware River at the Frenchtown-Uhlerstown Bridge won by a landslide with 533 votes. “I’m very excited, I’ve never won a contest before – or entered one,” Karen laughed. Karen lives in Frenchtown, New Jersey, just a short walk from the Delaware River and the Frenchtown-Uhlerstown Bridge. As Karen describes, the photo was taken during a perfect, snowy, and quiet evening, with no one else around – just her and the Delaware.

On March 23rd, the Delaware River Basin Restoration Program (DRBRP) received $5 million in funding as part of the Fiscal Year 2018 Omnibus spending bill approved by Congress and signed by the President. The Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed worked with Congress on the authorization of the Delaware River Basin Conservation Act which was first introduced in 2010. The Conservation Act was authorized in December 2016 and created the DRBRP. Now money will finally begin flowing to local conservation projects throughout the region.

Representative John Faso (NY-19) introduced a resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives on March 21, 2018 that recognizes and celebrates the natural resource value and growing economic importance of the Upper Delaware River. The resolution highlights how the Upper Delaware River is anchoring a robust regional tourism economy in Delaware and Sullivan counties (NY) and how critically important that is to the people, communities, and businesses who rely on the river for their livelihood.