Turning kids into eager anglers for trout
FUDR Bill Canfield Fly Fishing School
The first sounds you hear as you get close to this idyllic spot on the famed Beaverkill River is hooting and hollering. “Somebody must have caught a fish,” Pete Grimbilas, the volunteer coordinator of the Friends of the Upper Delaware/ Bill Canfield Fly Fishing School, says with a grin. Not just any fish — students…
Microplastics prevalent in samples from the Delaware River
Fibers made up the majority of the tiny plastics collected, study finds
Microplastics, tiny plastic fragments about as big as a sesame seed that can be harmful to aquatic life, were found in more than a dozen sites sampled in the Delaware River Estuary, a newly released study found. The report, spearheaded by the Delaware River Basin Commission, sought to inventory the distribution of microplastics in the…
Cleanest streams in Northeastern Pennsylvania bring $3 billion in benefits, study finds
A report quantifies the ecological and economic value of specially protected streams, which are concentrated in the Poconos
Northeastern Pennsylvania’s “exceptional value” and “high quality” streams – the highest designations for the state’s most pristine waterways – are associated with nearly $3 billion worth of economic benefits to communities, businesses and land owners, according to a recent report sponsored by clean water supporters. The study also countered a popular narrative that environmental protections…
Where does your drinking water come from, Hemlock Farms?
Full disclosure, I live in Hemlock Farms, so I have a vested interest in finding out about my water! Delaware Currents has done a number of stories about the various projects that take water from the watershed, but I’ve never done one on my “home turf.” Mainly because it’s relatively small and its impact on…
Art exhibit underscores mussels’ vital role in the Delaware River
“Freshwater,” at the Cherry Street Pier in Philadelphia, marries art and science
If you’re strolling through Cherry Street Pier in Philadelphia this summer, you’re bound to run into something you wouldn’t expect: live, freshwater mussels. The animals are peeking out of layers of sand in 30 glass vessels suspended from the ceiling of the pier, filtering water pumped from the Delaware River. This living fountain is Philadelphia…
$220M Clean Streams Fund stands to benefit Delaware River watershed
The program, adopted as part of Pennsylvania’s new budget, seeks to improve and protect water quality by helping farmers.
A newly created $220 million Pennsylvania state program largely aimed at improving and protecting water quality in the Chesapeake Bay watershed will also benefit communities and farms in the Delaware River watershed. The program, the Clean Streams Funds, was recently included in the 2022-23 state budget and will underwrite initiatives to target so-called nonpoint pollution…
Quarry drops plans that opponents viewed as threat to Delaware
Riverline wanted to create a construction yard to allow it to import recycled asphalt pavement
CARPENTERSVILLE – The Pohatcong Guardians appear to have emerged the victor in a push to keep Riverline Quarry’s operations in check. The quarry, located on a ridge only yards from the Delaware River, will continue to operate as it always has after the operators withdrew a site plan application for improvements and an expansion of…
Future of horseshoe crabs in Delaware Bay in the cross-hairs, activists say
Fewer female crabs mean fewer eggs, which is bad news for red knot birds
Horseshoe crabs, those crawly creatures that look like they belong in an “Alien” movie, have survived for hundreds of millions of years. But now, their population in the Delaware Bay is threatened because of proposed new rules allowing more of them – particularly females — to be killed to meet a growing commercial demand for…
Both sides on Delaware River National Park plan dig in
In the year since the plan was first proposed, opponents have galvanized while advances have been slow
Note: Since the time this article was published, Representative Josh Gottheimer has issued a statement clarifying his position about the Delaware River National Park. The article has been updated to reflect his statement. Drive along some roads in Sussex County, N.J., and Pike County, Pa., and you will see lawn signs that have sprouted like…
Reporter’s notebook: What goes on at a DRBC meeting
“So, what is the DRBC all about?” Delaware Gov. John Carney asked in his welcoming address to this, the first in-person meeting of the Delaware River Basin Commission in more than two years, which happened at the Chase Center in Wilmington, Del., on June 8. He was recalling his first contact with the DRBC back…