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Friends of the
Upper Delaware River Statement of Objectives
by Craig Findley, President and Lee Hartman, Vice President
Friends of the Upper Delaware River, Inc.
 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.
All of the above brings us to a chronicle of our most immediate
concerns: The Subcommittee on Ecological Flows (SEF), a subcommittee
of the DRBC, has begun a fairly well publicized three to five year
process intended to develop an overall flow plan for the entire
Delaware basin. A needed and highly commendable effort, and one in
which the Friends of the Upper Delaware has offered to partner; that
is to participate in those areas where there could be a mutual sharing
of effort to the benefit of the entire basin. However, while we
support and would participate in certain aspects of the overall
concept, we do have serious concerns regarding some of the processes
as they relate specifically to the fishery. There is, in our opinion,
a danger in that far too many people will rely on only superficial
public information and assume this process will satisfactorily relieve
the threats to the fishery. In reality, the wild trout fishery figures
as just one rather small aspect of a much greater, master plan. Still,
even if the fishery were more prominent in this planning process, the
basic premise, as it relates directly to the fishery, would seem
seriously flawed. The premise suggests that after years of studies,
New York's DEP will reverse four decades of demonstrated disregard for
the fishery and would accept, based on these studies, whatever 'flows'
and releases may be proposed for the protection of the trout. Perhaps
they will. But far more likely, history will again prove prologue and
all such proposals will, in the final presentation, be vetoed by the
DEP - leaving the fishery in considerably worse shape, years down the
road, than it is today.
 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, below 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 new
relicensing of its power generating plant on Lake Wallenpaupac 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 Wallenpaupac, 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. We are asking for, and would very genuinely
appreciate, your endorsement and your support.
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