New Map Depicts Recreational Opportunities In Delaware River Basin

For Immediate Release

May 19, 2003

(WEST TRENTON, N.J.)  – Looking for a spot to launch your boat, or get an idea of how much water is flowing in a river or stream?

Check out “i-Map DelBasin,” an internet mapping project that features recreational opportunities in the Delaware River Basin.

The application identifies sites to launch boats, gauging stations that provide river flows, locations where recreational boaters can safely pump out marine heads, state and federal parks, and state and federal fish consumption advisories. You can even find directions to get you to your location of choice.

I-Map DelBasin was developed by the Delaware River Basin Commission’s (DRBC’s) Information Management Advisory Committee (IMAC), consisting of GIS experts from the four states whose land is drained by the Delaware River — New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Geological Survey, and Lehigh University, along with commission staff.

Under the i-Map DelBasin application, dissimilar reference maps from the four states are customized into one standardized map, with a uniform scale.

“If you are a kayaker or canoeist looking for white water, interested in how much water is flowing in a river or stream, then i-Map DelBasin is for you,” said Larry Thornton, IMAC’s chair. “I-Map DelBasin gives you this information and much more in a friendly internet interface, and you don’t have to be a GIS expert to use it.”

I-Map can be found on the DRBC web site or on the Delaware Estuary Program web site. Specialized GIS software is not needed to run the application. It will work best with Internet Explorer, version 5.0 and above.

The DRBC provided $40,000 in funding for the project; DELEP and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, $5,000 each.