New Jersey’s Congressman Van Drew, Delaware’s Congressional Delegation, Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed, and Partnership for the Delaware Estuary (PDE) are celebrating $181,501 in federal funds recently awarded as part of the Delaware Watershed Conservation Fund. The grant will support PDE’s development of the Salt Marsh Decision-Support Tool, a first-of-its-kind digital tool that analyzes data to improve the health of salt marshes. Ultimately, the tool will allow for data-based conservation and restoration to protect coastal communities in the Delaware Estuary and Bay from the impacts of climate change, including New Jersey's Camden, Burlington, Gloucester, Cumberland, Salem, and Cape May Counties; and Delaware's New Castle, Kent, and Sussex Counties.

On October 7, Congressman Antonio Delgado (NY-19), Friends of the Upper Delaware River (FUDR), the Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed, Trout Unlimited (TU), Town of Colchester Supervisor Art Merrill, Village of Deposit Mayor Bryan Moore, and Town of Hancock Board member Patrick O’Brien gathered in Deposit, N.Y. for a press event and site tour that celebrated $1,239,817 in federal funds recently awarded to FUDR and TU as part of the Delaware Watershed Conservation Fund. These new funds will allow these organizations to conserve and restore fish and wildlife habitat, enhance and maintain water quality, and improve river-based recreational opportunities and public access in the Upper Delaware Watershed (Delaware and Sullivan Counties in New York, and Wayne County in Pennsylvania.)

When the William Penn Foundation’s Nathan Boon approached us at the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) last year, asking whether or not we might like some help with the Commission’s State of the Basin Report, we said, “Yes, but…” The Commission is required to produce such a report every five years, but these reports are a bit technical – certainly not very readable by the average Basin resident. Additionally, the report is DRBC’s view of the Basin, and there are a lot of groups and people out there – including many of you reading this post – who have their own opinions on the Basin’s water quality, water quantity, aquatic species health, etc.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Fish and Wildlife and New Jersey Audubon are on a mission to save the state’s official reptile: the bog turtle. Once abundant throughout New Jersey, bog turtles are now listed in the state as endangered and are restricted to rural portions of southern and northwestern New Jersey. Thankfully, new funds provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation as part of the Delaware Watershed Conservation Fund will allow for restoring and connecting 50 acres of wetland and upland turtle habitat in Salem County, NJ.

Late last month, the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed a $33.97 billion spending plan that will serve as the financial roadmap for the next fiscal year. The General Assembly passed all accompanying bills and Governor Wolf signed the budget bills into law on June 28 before fleeing Harrisburg for the summer.

It would be difficult to find a person living in or visiting the Delaware River Watershed who does not have a memory connecting them to the Delaware River main stem or one of its tributaries. Whether it’s sitting outside on a warm summer’s night by the waterside with a cold drink in hand, splashing joyfully with your friends in the cool creek water to beat the heat, or finally catching that monstrous striper that you swear has been avoiding you for years. If you live along the Schuylkill River (PA), the Christina River (DE), the Neversink River (NY), the Rancocas Creek (NJ), or any of the 216 Delaware River tributaries, there’s always outdoor adventure to be had.

After a fiscal year 2020 budget analysis of the four Delaware River Basin states (New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware), Sandra Meola, the Director of the Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed, a network of over 140 nonprofits located throughout the basin, has prepared the following statement.

The Delaware River Watershed is no stranger to water quality and flooding issues. In Delaware, the need for sustainable clean water is growing. After all, 90 percent of Delaware’s waterways are considered impaired and communities across the state, many of which are underserved, face chronic flooding. As the need for clean water funding grows, state and local budgets decrease, leaving a large gap between funding and statewide needs. Delaware Nature Society (DNS) has studied and advocated for Delaware’s water quality for decades and concluded that it would take a grassroots advocacy and education effort to push for much needed funding. So, in 2015 DNS brought together a core group of conservation organizations and pitched the idea of building a statewide outreach and education campaign to grow a strong, unified voice for clean water funding.