The Delaware River system provides clean drinking water for 15 million people, and sustains orchards, wineries, dairy farms, and scores of other businesses. Its free-flowing waters, world-class fisheries, and riverfront parks draw anglers, birders, bicyclists, and paddlers from across the region and the world.
Thanks to smart laws and caring landowners, today the Delaware is relatively healthy; however, it still suffers from pollution and overdevelopment. Rain running off lawns, fields, and roads carries toxic chemicals. In many places, the plants that slow and filter polluted runoff have been torn out to make way for homes and highways. All of this adds up to more flooding, steep banks, and stretches of river that are clogged with silt, trash, and algae.
Thankfully, dozens of groups, including New Jersey LCV Education Fund, are working together through the Delaware River Watershed Initiative to protect and restore the basin. They are conserving forested headwaters, working with homeowners and farmers to clean up streams, and bringing back native plants. From the New Jersey Highlands to the Pine Barrens, Pennsylvania farm country to Philadelphia and the bay, the Delaware River Watershed Initiative is bringing people together to ensure swimmable, fishable, and drinkable water for years to come.