Friends of the Upper Delaware River Fight For More Consistant Releases

We would like to introduce you to the Friends of the Upper Delaware River, an all volunteer, advocacy organization dedicated to protecting one of the few wild trout fisheries remaining in the East - the now severely threatened, federally designated "Wild and Scenic" Upper Delaware River, and its connecting, world famous, West Branch. These truly unique resources annually attract thousands of anglers from around the world, contributing tens of millions of dollars to the local economies. Detailed below are some of the new factors at play that could, in the near future, destroy this world class fishery, as well as, the Friends' intended course of action to keep that from happening.

To appreciate the challenges now facing this unique resource, it is first necessary to understand how this fishery came to be. The construction of dams along the Delaware created a cold water ecosystem affecting the river for miles, downstream from the dams. Wild trout and much of the aquatic insect life they depend upon for food, require cold water to flourish or, often, even to survive. A warm water environment, that is, a water temperature approaching seventy degrees or more can be lethal for both trout and aquatic insects. Accordingly, cold water releases are critical in maintaining both wild trout and a cold water ecosystem. Since certainly no one is suggesting the removal of the dams, the threat to the fishery then comes from erratic releases, the amount of cold water released, the timing of those releases and the management of those releases.

Control of the dams, and of the releases that so drastically influence the upper Delaware, rests with New York City's Department of Environmental Protection – a rather environmentally friendly name for what is, in reality, the City's Water Department. All of the reservoirs on the Upper Delaware are in New York State and under the City's sovereign control. Historically, from the time each of the three principal dams 'went on line', and with consistency, the City's DEP has disregarded efforts that would help to preserve, let alone enhance, this great resource. Still, somehow, the fishery did survive, and it did flourish – until now. Now there are new and lethal threats.

To understand these new threats, it is first necessary to understand a bit of history. In 1954, to settle a dispute over water between the States of New York and New Jersey, the United States Supreme Court issued a decree. Perhaps the single key element in that decree, was the mandate that a minimum flow of 1750 cubic feet per second (cfs) be maintained at a monitoring station located at Montague, New Jersey – far down River from the fishery. The Court left it to the various states to decide how to regulate their respective resources to meet that requirement. In 1961, the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) was formed to regulate all of the various flows, entering the Delaware, from the four contiguous states. Each state, the Federal Government and New York City has a representative on the Commission. New York City, like State Commissioners, can veto, with finality, any recommendation or proposal that comes before it. For over four decades, the New York City's DEP has, with near perfect consistency, vetoed any proposal that would be of help to the wild trout.

Further, we strongly disagree with one recommended cornerstone of these studies, the currently promoted 'interim' 225 cfs flows that are to be put in place for the next three to five years while these studies are being conducted. As you know, flows differ from releases in that they include all water (including warm water from tributaries, summer run off, rain, etc.) coming to the monitoring point (or flow target). Releases account for only the critical cold water coming from the dams. The more warm water that is counted, the less cold water needs to be released to meet even the dangerous 225 cfs target. Such a low flow rate would have no cooling effect on water temperature even as close to the Cannonsville Dam as the Town of Hancock. Far more importantly, in a summer with high air temperatures, the meager 225 cfs flows would prove lethal for both the trout and insect populations. It should also be realized that the arguments for relying on the 225 flows are based on a seriously flawed 'study' done over two decades ago that was never entirely implemented.

We also must strongly oppose, as is detailed in the Study Outline prepared for the Upper Delaware Ecological Flows Study (the master plan) this past October, the proposed remanaging, as warm water fisheries, the Neversink River, down to the Town of Bridgeville, the East Branch of the Delaware from its confluence with the Beaverkill down to Hancock and the main stem from the Town of Hankins on down to Callicoon. All of these waters have been cold water ecosystems and classic trout water for generations of anglers.

In addition to the threats posed to the wild trout fishery by some aspects of this planning process, Pennsylvania Power and Light's (PPL) new relicensing of its power generating plant on Lake Wallenpaupack will release substantial quantities of water into the Lackawaxen River which, in turn, flows into the Delaware - far down stream of the fishery. These new releases will be counted, especially during the critical summer months, toward the Supreme Court mandated 1750 cfs at Montague. The inclusion of these new releases substantially reduces the amount of water the DEP has, until now, found necessary to release from Cannonsville in order to satisfy that Montague mandate.

Here again, we must also stop to take note. One of the arguments the DEP has consistently raised whenever challenged about regulated releases for the fishery, is that if the City were indeed to provide enough water for the fish, seven million New Yorkers would be at risk in the event of a drought. In reality, the guaranteed 600 cfs release from the Cannonsville Dam we are calling for (from May to September), is approximately the same, or less than, the averages for comparable month to month periods for the past twenty-five years, indicating this is far more an issue of proper and guaranteed management than of sufficient water.

It must be also pointed out that the DEP does have other options that, perhaps especially in these uncertain times, it should pursue. It could, for instance, repair the leaking aqueducts that waste an estimated 30 to 100 million gallons of fresh water each day, or it could provide a filtration system on the Hudson that would provide an additional 330 + million gallons of clean water daily. And we must keep in mind that in the past twenty years, there have been only two actual droughts that have gone through the summer. And, of the eight drought 'warnings' – none of which reached the status of 'drought emergency' - that have occurred over the same period, three were in mid-September and the remaining five were in late fall; in both cases, when warm water was not a threat to the fishery.

Although we certainly take issue with both some of the proposed aspects of the flow studies that are to be undertaken, and assuredly with the potential impact the new PPL releases will have on the fishery, the focus for the Friends of the Upper Delaware River must clearly be addressing New York City's DEP. The DEP is the sovereign agency actually controlling the releases and, accordingly, it is the agency we hope to encourage into positive discussions and constructive changes.

Toward that end, our positions are clear and concise: To protect both the wild trout and the cold water ecosystem, we seek a guaranteed 600 cfs release, from the Cannonsville Reservoir, from May 15 to September 15th. Here we would also point out that this rate of release not only protects the fishery, it readily accommodates both wade and drift boat fishermen and in so doing protects local fishing related economies. During the less critical winter months, from September 16th to May 14th, we seek a guaranteed flow of 300 cfs; adequate for preventing anchor ice and similar threatening problems. To prevent abrupt and dangerous changes in release rates, we maintain that the transition times of these changes must be 'ramped' or gradually changed. We seek a guarantee that the water temperature from Cannonsville downstream to Lordville, not exceed 70 degrees at any time. We maintain that the new flows being released from the PPL power generating plant on Lake Wallenpaupack, should not be counted towards the Supreme Court mandate at Montague. We maintain that, to prevent silt build up, the Cannonsville releases be augmented with releases from the East Branch when Cannonsville levels drop below thirty percent. Similarly, we call for the locating and correcting of silt entering the West Branch and the upper main stem from feeder streams. We call for the development of a mutually agreed to plan for proportional water release reductions during periods of declared drought. We maintain that during periods of high water or air temperatures, spillage be offset with equal amounts of cold water releases. And finally, we maintain that current suggestions to remanage the waters described above be abandoned and, moreover, these waters safeguarded with guaranteed consistent releases.

As one of the Congressmen with whom the Friends already met pointed out, "to challenge New York City, is to take on the proverbial 800 pound gorilla." Perhaps, but this is nonetheless an engagement we feel we must undertake.

EDITORS NOTE: The Fly Fishing Connection has been following flow related issues on the Upper Delaware River Basin intently for many years. This is finally a realistic plan that makes sense. We STRONGLY endorse and fully support the efforts of "Friends of the Upper Delaware River" and their proposed "release" plan to help save and further improve a truely "World Class Wild Trout Fishery".

We have set up a message board and have asked members of the Friends of the Upper Delaware River to monitor it and answer any questions you may have.