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The Delaware River is the lifeblood of our region. Except instead of a singular pathway, it branches like arteries throughout the land, encompassing a huge network from a small mountain spring in New York to its wide mouth emptying into the Delaware Bay.
We are our River’s Keeper
The Delaware River, the longest undammed river east of the Mississippi, and its watershed are directly responsible for providing drinking water for 17 million people from four states. Its 13,539 square-mile water- shed drains about four percent of the continental U.S. land area and flows for 330 miles from New York through Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. We depend on it for agriculture, industry, our economy and our drinking water. The river’s health is our health.
Retaining a healthy ecosystem means not only caring about the river, but also working toward its protection and restoration. Since 1988, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network (DRN) serves as the only citizen- action organization operating through the entire Delaware River watershed. At its helm is the Delaware Riverkeeper, Maya K. van Rossum, championing the rights of the river as a member of our community. “The river doesn’t have its own voice,” she says.
Acting as its mouthpiece, van Rossum and her team work to promote environmental advocacy, monitor the river and its tributaries, maintain strong water quality, fight for toxic reduction regulations, create restoration projects, establish protective zones along the river, defend against dangerous proposals such as dumping in the waterway and, when necessary, go to court to ensure the enforcement of environmental protection laws.
Whether getting the red knot, a migratory bird, on the 10 Most Threatened Species list, saving 28 acres of woodlands and wetlands from development near the headwaters of Brock Creek in Bucks County, preventing the introduction of the invasive species of Pacific salmonids to the Delaware River system or waging an eight-year battle to get the Delaware River Basin Commission to grant a Special Protection Waters designation to the lower sections of the river from the Delaware Water Gap to the Trenton/Morrisville area, the DRN acts on behalf of not only the river, but for our greater community as well.
“We’re working to restore balance in the river and the watershed where it’s been lost,” she explains. “We want to ensure preservation efforts remain focused and successful.”
While van Rossum stops short of naming any one issue as the largest or most important to the health of the river, she admits that everything adds up. “There’s a cumulative effect happening, which is not ok,” she says. Any harm the river incurs has magnified effects downstream. The natural gas drilling proposed in the Marcellus Shale, the marine sedimentary rock found throughout the region, “takes a beautiful river and turns it into a polluted industrial landscape,” says van Rossum.
Damn the Dam
Development on flood plains causes what van Rossum refers to as a “cycle of harm.” Building in these areas and the subsequent construction of more dams and levees only exacerbates the human toll the Delaware must absorb. However, challenging such projects often leads to hard-fought battles that have only been successful after years of letter-writing campaigns, lobbying and litigation. “The reality is that we spend about 90 percent of our time doing research, digging through files and records,” says Joe Turner, secretary and treasurer of the Raymond Proffitt Organization, another local environmental advocacy group, who “helped around the edges” in concert with the DRN in the fight against the Dark Hollow Dam, a 50-foot-high flood-control structure that would have been built across the Neshaminy Creek in Bucks County.
Proposed in the wake of several bad floods in the 1950s and 1960s, the Dark Hollow Dam was part of a larger initiative put forth by the Natural Resources Conservation Service, an agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture, to control the problem in the area and protect flood victims. However, a study completed by the Bucks County Commissioner’s office in the late 1980s found the project to be environmentally and economically unfeasible. The most violent and damaging storms would not have been contained by the structure. “The Neshaminy has flooded many times,” says Turner. “Since the 1880s, we’ve had bad flooding periodically. But the [proposed] dam was going to be put in the wrong place. It would have resulted in more dams being built and would not have solved the problem.” In addition to perhaps poor planning, the altered water flow would have likely resulted in irreversible damage to the area’s ecosystem and possibly fueled future development.
Springing into action, the DRN distributed fact sheets, went to public hearings, testified in court and even held a blessing of the Neshaminy Creek by a Native American tribal organization. “It’s clear that public involvement, open-minded thinking and intelligent analysis can change outdated policies to stop a harmful project and replace it with a better solution,” says van Rossum. According to Turner, the more economic and environmentally friendly solution lies in elevated homes and buy-outs. He suggests people try and live in accord with the natural environment rather than attempt to bend it to their will. van Rossum suggests another alternative: “The best way to protect flood victims is to move them out of harm’s way.”
Since the dam was initially defeated, the land has since become Dark Hollow Park in Warwick Township, home to a natural abundance of wildlife and forest; natural wonders like the Neshaminy Palisades, a series overhanging rock cliffs; and the Eight-Arch Bridge, the last remaining eight-arch bridge in Pennsylvania. For van Rossum, it’s proof that we can make a difference. “Taking the time to listen to hard issues can be overwhelming,” she admits. “It’s sad to think about, but it’s so important.” She suggests writing letters, going to meetings and speaking to other community members if you’re moved. “Because people join together, because they care, we’ve been able to effect change,” says van Rossum.
In our own Back – and Front – Yards
Even from miles away, you can affect a positive change in the health of our river. The living ecosystem of the river depends on the ability to reabsorb rainwater. Polluted runoff jeopardizes its overall health. Much of the toxins that leach into the river – and, in suit, our drinking supply – come from an unsuspected source: your home.
“Knowingly or unknowingly, polluted runoff from lawn care chemical and fertilizers can add to erosion and flooding,” says van Rossum. “Unnatural, perfectly manicured lawns are almost as hard and cause as much runoff as pavement. Take a look at your lawn and decide how much of it you really need.” Creating a “natural buffer” around your property with native species of trees, shrubs and other plants encourages rainwater to be captured and reduces runoff. “Even if you have a small yard, if you make some changes then your neighbor and then their neighbor, those are large pieces of land restored to beautiful natural habitats. It enriches the community, improves our quality of life and increases the value of your home. There’s a huge beneficial impact.”
From the Catskill and Pocono mountains in the north through the Delaware Water Gap, from the Neshaminy Creek and other tributaries out to the Delaware Bay, the Delaware River watershed provides healthy habitats to wildlife, “clean” recreation to countless enthusiasts and safe drinking water for millions. Preserving this ecosystem means living sustainably and conscientiously. “We can make a difference today, for the future and for our children,” says van Rossum.
Go online at delawareriverkeeper.org