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PFBC sees increase in fatalities on the water

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<p>Pennsylvania is blessed with three rivers that, when it comes to trout fishing, are equal to or better than any in the northeast.</p><p>And trout anglers in northeastern Pennsylvania are fortunate that the Lehigh, Lackawaxen and Delaware rivers are all within an easy drive.</p><p>While the three trout-fishing meccas are thriving right now, one faces an uncertain future.</p><p>The Delaware River is fed by three reservoirs in New York that provide drinking water to New York City. The river is a top-notch wild trout fishery, rich in angling history and a magnet for fly fishermen. Legends have fished the Delaware and legendary trout, and stories, were pulled from its water.</p><p>But now, the long-term health of the river, which is dependent on the cold water released from the reservoirs in upstate New York, is in jeopardy.</p><p>The agreement, called the Flexible Flow Management Program, assured the Delaware would consistently be fed cold water from the reservoirs, expired on May 31.</p><p>The decree parties, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and New York City, who responsible for renewing the program couldn&#8217;t reach an unanimous agreement this time. New Jersey pulled out, and as a result, the water releases are managed by an outdated and inadequate flow plan from the 1980s called Revision 1.</p><p>The plan would cut the amount of water released into the river from the reservoirs in half. The significant water reduction would put the wild trout fishery at great risk, especially when things heat up in the summer and trout need cold water to survive.</p><p>Fortunately, New York City has stepped up and, with the support of the state of New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware, the city&#8217;s Department of Environmental Protection will voluntarily release more water than what is called for in the fall-back plan.</p><p>Water will be released from two of the reservoirs at nearly double the rate called for in Revision 1. </p><p>That&#8217;s good news for the trout, ecology, anglers and the river towns that depend on the fishing and tourism industries to survive.</p><p>It&#8217;s ironic to think that New York City could have the ability to save a pristine wild trout fishery, but that&#8217;s exactly what it did.</p><p>For now.</p><p>While the Delaware River and it&#8217;s trout are doing fine at the moment, that could change in a New York minute.</p><p>Literally.</p><p>The decision by the city to release more water than required is voluntary. There&#8217;s no legal obligation for the city to let more water spill into the river, and that&#8217;s why the states need to reach an agreement and protect the health of the river into the future.</p><p>There&#8217;s a lot at stake.</p><p>Not only is the river itself a prime trout fishery, but so are the streams that comprise the entire Delaware River Basin, which stretches for 330 miles from New York through Pennsylvania and into New Jersey.</p><p>At the same time, the reservoirs supply drinking for more than 15 million people, and that need obviously has to be met.</p><p>And that&#8217;s why New Jersey, whose own water reserves dropped last year due to a drought, is balking at renewing the Flexible Flow Management Program that has worked well since it was implemented in 1954.</p><p>Compounding the matter are concerns about flooding and the intrusion of saltwater into the river from the Delaware Bay, if there isn&#8217;t enough water released from the reservoirs.</p><p>And then there&#8217;s fishing.</p><p>Tourism.</p><p>Recreation.</p><p>It&#8217;s a lot to deal with, and it all highlights that no matter how pristine and abundant the Delaware River is, it&#8217;s extremely vulnerable as well.</p><p><ins>For other sports stories, <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/category/sports" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">click here</a>.</ins></p><style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Tom Venesky</p><p>tvenesky@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Tom Venesky at 570-991-6395 or on Twitter @TomVenesky</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Outdoors with Tom Venesky: A murky future for the Delaware River