DRBC’s Basin Plan Progress Report Highlights Stakeholder Projects – Inergency

Each year, an implementation progress report for the Water Resources Plan for the Delaware River Basin (basin plan) is compiled by DRBC staff. The basin plan is a 30-year goal-based framework that serves as a guide for all governmental and non-governmental stakeholders whose actions affect water resources in the basin. It is organized into five key result areas, each with its own goals and objectives:

• KRA 1 – Sustainable Use and Supply
• KRA 2 – Waterway Corridor Management
• KRA 3 – Linking Land and Water Resource Management
• KRA 4 – Institutional Coordination and Cooperation
• KRA 5 – Education and Involvement for Stewardship

The implementation progress report is presented to the commissioners at their regularly-scheduled fall business meeting. It highlights the efforts of various agencies and local partners to restore and protect the water resources of the Delaware River Basin and maintain the Delaware River as a system of national significance. 

Examples of successful projects included in the 2013 report: 

• The installation of real-time water quality monitors in three locations of the Upper Delaware Basin by the National Park Service, with assistance from the United States. Geological Survey, N.Y.S. Dept. of Transportation, and DRBC;
• Restoring N.J. Delaware Bay beaches in time for the arrival of spawning horseshoe crabs and migrating shorebird species after Superstorm Sandy;
• The naming of the Delaware River Watershed to the Urban Waters Federal Partnership, which unites federal, state, and local partners in the Philadelphia-Camden-Chester-Wilmington region and leverages resources for projects focused on connecting urban populations to their waterways;
• Creation of the Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed, a collaboration of NGOs focused on the protection and restoration of the Delaware River, its tributaries, and surrounding landscapes; and
• Retain the Rain, a rain barrel art and water conservation project led by Pa.’s Monroe County Conservation District.

View presentation on the progress report given by DRBC staff at the September 12, 2013 DRBC business meeting (pdf 1.2 MB). View the full report (pdf 2 MB).

Suggestions for projects to be included in future basin plan implementation progress reports are welcome. Please contact Pamela V’Combe by email or at (609) 883-9500 x226 with ideas or for more information.