2014 marks the tenth issue of the implementation progress report for the Water Resources Plan for the Delaware River Basin (basin plan) that is compiled annually by DRBC staff. The basin plan is a 30-year, goal-based framework that serves as a guide for all governmental and non-governmental stakeholders whose actions affect water resources in the basin. It is organized into five key result areas, each with its own goals and objectives:

• KRA 1 - Sustainable Use and Supply
• KRA 2 - Waterway Corridor Management
• KRA 3 - Linking Land and Water Resource Management
• KRA 4 - Institutional Coordination and Cooperation
• KRA 5 - Education and Involvement for Stewardship

The implementation progress report is presented to the commissioners at their regularly-scheduled fall business meeting. It highlights the efforts of various agencies and local partners to restore and protect the water resources of the Delaware River Basin and maintain the Delaware River as a system of national significance. 

Examples of successful programs and projects included in the 2014 report: 

• The state of Delaware established the Clean Water for Delaware's Future initiative, a plan to protect public health and clean up the state's waterways within a generation; 
• The Partnership for the Delaware Estuary developed a living shorelines monitoring framework that the scientific and management community can use to validate that installed projects address shoreline erosion, minimize property loss, and protect habitat;
• The Pinchot Institute for Conservation and the Common Waters Partnership worked with the Model Forest Policy Program to write Adapting to a Changing Climate: Risks and Opportunities for the Upper Delaware Region, a plan that addresses how to protect the region's excellent water resources as the climate changes;
• The Musconetcong River Restoration Partnership, made up of federal, state, local, and non-profit organizations, received the prestigious Coastal America Partnership Award for a dam removal project that will enhance freshwater flows and improve water quality; and
• The successful inaugural year of the Schuylkill Acts and Impacts: An Expedition to Inspire Watershed Action, an applied service-learning program piloted by the Schuylkill Headwaters Association in collaboration with Outward Bound Philadelphia. For one week in June, ten high school students traversed the Schuylkill River Watershed, learning about its water quality issues and how they can be managed. The students were challenged to think about how they use water and what they can do to protect the river in their own stretch of the watershed.  

Download the 2014 progress report (pdf 2 MB). View presentation on the progress report given by DRBC staff at the September 10, 2014 DRBC business meeting (pdf 2.45 MB).

Suggestions for projects to be included in future basin plan implementation progress reports are welcome. Please contact Pamela V'Combe by email or at (609) 883-9500 x226 with ideas or for more information.