Your Help is Needed to Protect Delaware County Waterways

The Upper Delaware River Tailwaters Coalition and Friends of the Upper Delaware River are working on an exciting new project to protect, manage, and restore waterways in Delaware County, New York.

They are working on a first of its kind Stream Corridor Management Plan in Delaware County downstream of the NYC reservoirs. This plan will serve as a blueprint for the future management and protection of important water resources. 

 

A series of public workshops will highlight the values and functions of waterways in Delaware County and the important social, economic, and cultural benefits they provide. If you want to play a personal role in their protection and management, plan on attending one of these workshops  
 
A second series of meetings - The Basics of Stream Dynamics - will address the basic components of stream protection and how they impact people and wildlife.

Meeting Locations:

Monday, October 24 - Deposit State Theater

148 Front St., Deposit, NY

 

Tuesday, October 25 - Colchester American Legion Hall

6644 River Rd, Downsville, NY

 

Wednesday, October 26 - Hancock Town Hall

661 W. Main St., Hancock, NY 

 

Times of all meeting:  6:00 - 7:30 PM

Presenters:
Graydon Dutcher, Delaware County Soil & Water Conservation District
Mark Gutshall, Landstudies Inc.

Light Refreshments will be Served

Upper Delaware tributary on list of streams recommended for High Quality Status

The Pennsylvania Department of  Environmental Protection (PA DEP) recommended a rulemaking to the Environmental Quality Board (EQB) to upgrade 50 Class A Trout Streams to High Quality status.

Included is Sherman Creek, a tributary to the West Branch of the Delaware.

You can submit an online comment supporting this change at http://www.ahs.dep.pa.gov/eComment/ or via email at RegComments@pa.gov with “Proposed Rulemaking: Water Quality Standards; Class A Stream Redesignations” in the subject line. A return name and address must be included in your email.

You can read the proposal here: http://www.pabulletin.com/secure/data/vol46/46-10/367.html

The Upper Delaware Council Seeks Awards Nominations by March 14

The Upper Delaware Council, Inc. (UDC) is accepting public nominations through March 14 for its 28th Annual Awards Ceremony to be held on April 24 at Tennanah Lake Golf & Tennis Club in the Town of Fremont.

“These awards are intended to honor the contributions that individuals, organizations, communities, and government agencies have made to enhancing the quality of life or protecting the resources in the Upper Delaware River region,” said UDC Executive Director Laurie Ramie. “We would like the entire river community to be involved in the nomination process.”

Nine award categories are available, in addition to the Oaken Gavel Award traditionally given by the Council to the past year’s chairperson. Nomination forms and a list of past award recipients are available on-line at www.upperdelawarecouncil.org or upon request.

The Sunday, April 24, ceremony will take place at Wolff’s 1910 Banquet Hall at Tennanah Lake Golf & Tennis Club, 178 County Route 96, Roscoe, NY.

Festivities will begin at 3 p.m. with an hors d’oeuvres and cash bar reception. A buffet dinner will be served at 4 p.m. A keynote address and the presentation of awards will follow.

The public is welcome. Tickets are $28. Reservations with advance payment are required by April 15.
Nominations are sought for the following award categories:

Distinguished Service Award – Given to an individual who has acted with distinction in support of the goals and objectives of the River Management Plan for the Upper Delaware Scenic & Recreational River. This is the UDC’s highest honor.

Robin M. Daniels Memorial Lifesaving Award – Given to individual(s) who, through an act of selfless heroism, saved the life of a person or persons in imminent peril in 2015.

Community Service Award – Given to the individual, community, sportsmen’s or conservation group, or other entity that took action in 2015 to protect the river corridor, or one or more of its valuable resources.

Cultural Achievement Award – Given to the organization or individual whose work promoted, enhanced, or interpreted the cultural resources of the Upper Delaware River Valley.

Recreation Achievement Award – Given to an organization or individual that made an outstanding effort to educate river users about such subjects as water safety, conservation, litter control, river etiquette, and property rights.

Outstanding Community Achievement Award – Given to a municipality to recognize significant action in 2015 to protect the river corridor.

Partnership Award – Given to a government agency or regional entity instituting new programs or policies, or engaging in cooperative ventures, in support of the River Management Plan.

Volunteer Award – Given to the individual or organization who contributed significant time and energy in 2015 in service of the Upper Delaware River Valley.

Award(s) of Recognition – Given to those who have made substantial efforts in the past year to improve the Upper Delaware’s quality of life and resources.

Nominations will be evaluated by a UDC subcommittee. The list of this year’s honorees will be announced in late March
.
For more information on nominations and reservations, please contact the UDC at P.O. Box 192, 211 Bridge St., Narrowsburg, NY 12764, phone (845) 252-3022, fax (845) 252-3359, or e-mail laurie@upperdelawarecouncil.org.

2015 American Shad Run on the Delaware River

The Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission published their 2015 American shad run  findings on the Delaware River. It can be summed up as a ho-hum average run comprised of primarily younger age fish.

Young of the year surveys were decent, not great, but as it's called in the fisheries world, "sustainable".

I have a problem when using averages to determine the sustainability or heath of a fishery, and that's because averages change. Lower returns over the years will reduce the average leaving us to continually settle for fewer and fewer returning fish. They need to get the average out of the picture and replace it with available habitat and utilization of that habitat.

In the case of American shad, how much habitat is available for spawning and how that habitat is utilized is a far more important piece of data than counting heads at predetermined points. I do understand that's how it's always been done and that's the benchmark of comparison. But, if we continue to try and measure fishery health the same way as before while continuing to see diminished returns we can expect to continue to experience the same results of diminished fish returns.


More detailed info on the 2015 Delaware River Shad Monitoring can be found here: http://fishandboat.com/images/reports/2016bio/delaware-shad.pdf