A Drop of Water goes a long Way. Delaware River Release Talks Reaching New Levels

April 24, 2004, the Delaware River Basin Commission [DRBC] approved Revision 7 (D77-20 CP), which was to establish an experimental augmented conservation release program for the New York City Delaware Basin Reservoirs for the period beginning May 1, 2004 and ending May 31, 2007, and to engage in discussions to develop a long-term, flexible program to manage releases from the reservoirs. Revision 7 was just the latest in a long line of revisions that did not adequately protect the habitat and promote healthy rivers. These reservoirs ar the Neversink, Pepacton and Cannonsville which feed the Neversink River, East Branch of the Delaware and the West Branch Delaware, respectively. The East Branch and West Branch of the Delaware meet in Hancock, New York to form the Main stem Delaware river which runs the border of New York and Pennsylvania, then forming the New Jersey / Pennsylvania border as it heads towards Delaware.

In 2005, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, (NYSDEC), the group in charge of managing water releases for fisheries and habitat protection, literally ran out of water even though reservoirs in the upper basin were near capacity. It was clear that fundamental changes were needed to better manage this precious resource.

After months of pressure by conservations groups in the media, Mr. Fred Nuffer who at that time was Water Resource Manager for the NYSDEC and NY States representative to the DRBC called a public meeting in Hawley Pa, for the Decree Parties and the various concerned conservation groups. Many ideas were discussed by different organizations and as the meeting was coming to a close, Rocci Aquirre who at that time was the Catskill Coordinator for Trout Unlimited, closed his statement by saying, "we all heard a lot of ideas here today, the next time you [DRBC] hear from the conservation groups, we will be speaking as one." Mr. Nuffer echoed his comments after the meeting, expressing how important it was for the various conservation groups to come together. Shortly thereafter, the Decree Parties put out a document of constraints that any group submitting a possible solution to the flow issues would have to follow. If followed, it was up to that group to propose their plan to one of the Decree Parties, for "sponsorship".

As weeks and months passed it seemed almost impossible to get all the groups on the same page. There were some discussions taking place with individuals from different organizations with no real agreement to work as one. In mid December of 2005, two individuals from one organization pushed hard to bring their group together with the others to discuss their ideas for a release policy that could be beneficial for the fishery. Numerous attempts were made by these two individuals to convince their organization it was the right way to proceed. In early January 2007, those individuals resigned from their organization and met with leaders from another organization in what was called "The Summit at Eldred", which eventually led to what is now known as the Delaware River Adaptive Release Coalition. By Early February, Dr. Peter Kolesar of Columbia University and Larry Miri, a former board member from FUDR, came to agreement with Jim Serio of the Delaware River Foundation, Leon Szeptycki - Trout Unlimited National, and Colin Apse - The Nature Conservancy Eastern Office, to works as one group and fine tune what is now known as The Coalition's, Adaptive Release Policy. Shortly there after, Fisheries Biologist Nat Gillespie took command for Trout Unlimited on the National Level, and a few months later, Theodore Gordon Flyfishers, led by conservation committee member Steve Lieb, joined the team.

After 14 months of intense research and modeling, countless meetings and conference calls with the NYSDEC, bi-weekly conference calls within the coalition, all encompassing thousands of hours and tens of thousands of dollars, on March 6, the Coalition presented their "adaptive release policy"(CP2) to the Parties of the 1954 Supreme Court Decree, during an RFAC meeting in Trenton, NJ. This was an unprecedented invitation to speak to the "decision Makers" which included Governor appointed representatives from the states of New York, New Jersey, Delaware, The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the Deputy Water Commissioner from New York City.

The Coalition put forth new thinking in the way the Upper Delaware Basin water is allocated, taking into consideration all the constraints, goals and objectives, risk analysis to the water supply system, flooding issues, three tail water rivers and their ecology, federally endangered species, the "wild rainbows" in the upper main stem of the Delaware, and economic impact to the states involved. As you can see, this is a very complex issue.

Please take a few moments to review the Coalitions Policy (CP2). A new policy will be voted on in May and the Coalition is requesting all the help they can get by anyone around the country who has an interest in protecting the ecology on one of the nation's most scenic wild trout rivers. CP2 is based on sound science and can be implemented with no additional risk to water supply. Please visit: www.drarp.org to learn more and make your voice heard.