Fishing Report May 30th: Upper Delaware River System In Peril

Dear Compleat Anglers:  Today's Blog will be a dual report - fishing conditions and flows for Connecticut and Catskill rivers will be covered in a separate report , but first, there are potentially grave happenings on the Upper Delaware River System and to that end, here is an important update from from FUDR (Friends of the Upper Delaware River.)

After you've read the update, please take a minute to e-mail the six decree parties listed below - one of the most important wild fisheries in the country depends on it!

Upper Delaware River Wild Trout Fishery and Economy in Peril

Despite years of negotiation, the 1954 Decree Parties (NY, NJ, PA, DE, and NYC) appear to be no closer to a long term management plan (FFMP) for the NYC Delaware River basin reservoirs.

Unlike the past 5 years where the ongoing stalemate resulted in consecutive one year extensions of an unchanged plan, there’s a new twist this year that puts the Upper Delaware River wild trout fishery and the recreational economy of the watershed in grave danger.

In February 2017, the state of New Jersey declared that it was not prepared to vote for another one year extension unless their demands for Delaware River water allocations are met. Since then, discussions have occurred between the Decree Parties but it appears as if the key negotiators are more interested in inflicting political pain upon one another than actually arriving at a real deal that satisfactorily meets everybody’s water resource needs and protects the river.

At this late hour, it appears there are two possible outcomes:

1. A 6^thstraight one year extension of an unchanged plan
2. A reversion back to a 1980’s reservoir management approach called “Revision 1”.

Revision 1 would be a dangerous step backward for the Upper Delaware River and will trigger alarmingly low water releases from the reservoirs (45 cfs from Cannonsville/70 cfs from Pepacton) from June 1 through June 15.

This poses serious ecological threats to the river and will harm the economy of the Upper Delaware River at a critical time in the recreational season.

Who’s to blame? All of the Decree Parties.

Bureaucratic bickering, overly rigid parochial demands, and a “You don’t get yours if I don’t get mine” attitude has unnecessarily placed the Upper Delaware River watershed in ecological and economic peril.

We need you to take action!

Please call or email the Decree Party Member from your state NOW!

Here’s the message:

Work together to develop a reservoir management plan before June 1 that avoids Revision 1 and provides strong environmental and economic protections for the Upper Delaware River and the entire watershed.

1954 U.S. Supreme Court Decree Party Principals/Designees:

Paul Rush (NYC): prush@dep.nyc.gov, 845-334-7107
Mark Klotz (NY): mark.klotz@dec.ny.gov, 518-402-8233
Kelly Heffner (PA): kheffner@pa.gov, 717-783-2300
Dan Kennedy (NJ): dan.kennedy@dep.nj.gov, 
David Wunsch (DE): dwunsch@udel.edu, 302-831-8258