Water Resources Association of the Delaware River Basin

On November 26, 2024, from 9-10 am, Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) and DRBC will host a virtual Hazard Mitigation Grant Funding Webinar. This webinar is the next installment of DRBC and PEMA’s Middle Delaware Flood Mitigation Assistance Workshop series and is aimed at providing practical information to municipal employees, floodplain managers, engineers, planners and other professionals who play a role in community preparedness against hazards.?? ? To register for this free webinar, please visit: https://lnkd.in/eEDbJ7pj.?? ?? For up-to-date project information, including reference materials from earlier sessions, you can visit DRBC’s webpage: https://lnkd.in/ex6kN8Ev

Replacing lead service lines (LSLs) is crucial for safeguarding public health. In New Jersey, all lead, galvanized, brass, and bronze service lines (or leadcompromised service lines) must be replaced by 2031. Click here for this resource: https://lnkd.in/eGnerB-n Lead-Free NJ Lead in Drinking Water Task Force & Lead Implementation Workgroup coordinated by Deandrah Cameron, MPH Lead in Drinking Water Task Force Chair: Amy Goldsmith, Clean Water Action Lead Service Line Implementation Workgroup? Co-chairs: Richard Calbi Jr. P.E., P.P., Ridgewood Water; Mike Furrey, Agra Environmental and Laboratory Services

Did You Know? DRBC offers a Historic Salt Front Data Viewer. Folks can view data from Nov. 1963, when DRBC 1st started tracking the location of the salt front, to present day: https://lnkd.in/e_mX9G2c You may be asking what is the salt front? The salt front is used to estimate how far saltwater has moved into the Delaware River Estuary, known as salinity intrusion, and is defined as the location where the chloride concentration is 250 mg/l based on a seven-day moving average. During dry conditions, DRBC releases water from upstream reservoirs to push this salty water away from drinking water & industrial intakes. The Philadelphia Inquirer recently published two articles that talk about the salt front: "What the Delaware River ‘salt line’ is, and why we should care where it is" by Anthony Wood: https://lnkd.in/eHC8gsA2 "Delaware River water levels at 60% as salt front increases amid drought" by Frank Kummer: https://lnkd.in/em3FPvH4

Yesterday, the New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation upgraded Regions II & IIA to a drought warning & put the rest of NYS in a drought watch. Here's an updated map showing state drought declarations in the Delaware River Basin. As you can see, all but two counties in the Basin are in a drought watch or drought warning. The DRBC encourages everyone to use water efficiently and comply with all issued conservation requests.

From the Desk of the Commissioner, Rohit Aggarwala At the beginning of the month I joined Mayor ERIC ADAMS in issuing a citywide drought watch, and the last 10 days have only seen the historically dry and warmer than normal weather continue. The lack of significant rainfall means the storage levels in our reservoirs continues to run below normal and our team of scientists and planners in the Bureau of Water Supply (BWS) is keeping a close eye on forecasts and the possibility of elevating the ongoing drought watch to a drought warning. The lack of rainfall is impacting much of the northeast region and the dry conditions combined with windy weather means an elevated risk of wildfires. A significant fire has been burning to the west of the city on the New York/ New Jersey border and even Prospect Park in Brooklyn was the location of a 2-acre wildfire that the City’s Fire Department was able to control and extinguish without incident. However, most immediate to DEP operations has been two wildfires located in the West of Hudson Watershed and in the vicinity of Rondout Reservoir. A roughly 650-acre fire in the northwest corner of Ulster County began on Peekamoose Mountain and more than 140 firefighters from multiple agencies made progress on containing that fire over the weekend. Additionally, a 10-acre wildfire on City-owned land adjacent to the West Delaware Tunnel Outlet in Sullivan County was brought under control last week. DEP Police and BWS staff worked alongside local and state first responders during the firefighting operations, including utilizing DEP Police helicopters to drop water on the fires. Thanks to the quick and coordinated responses to these wildfires, experts do not expect any measurable impact on drinking water quality. These unusual weather patterns are putting a focus on several of DEP’s critical missions and I want to thank all of you for your continued dedication. I am always impressed by the level of expertise and commitment demonstrated by DEP’s professional staff. In the case of the wildfires I’d specifically like to thanks BWS Deputy Commissioner Paul Rush, Jennifer Garigliano, Paul Bennett, Travis Ratner, Aaron Carlson, RJ Schroeder, Anthony Garigliano, Matt Bowers, and Anna Keener. And from the Police, Captains Shane Turck and Tavan Novi, Lieutenants Jon Shamro and Randall Hurlbert, Sergeants Michael Upshaw, Jason Shaw and David Grabiec, Detectives Ron Hewlett and Scott Hogan, Officer Donald Dorste, aviation mechanics Derek Kautz and Matthew Piciocco, and pilots Craig Patterson and Ralph Pineda. #NYCWater #Drought2024 #ArielSurvallience #Firefighting

Due to a historic lack of rainfall in our watershed, the NYC Office of the Mayor and Commissioner Aggarwala have elevated NYC's drought level to a warning. The Delaware Aqueduct Repair Project will pause out of caution, and we urge all NYers to save water whenever possible! https://nyc.gov/savewater

As dry conditions persist, we applaud the state’s decision to issue a drought warning and are proud to be working closely with the NJ Department of Environmental Protection to support the critical conservation work they are doing. That’s why we issued a statewide mandatory conservation notice for customers to limit all nonessential water usage. As New Jersey’s largest water utility, we are dedicated to responsible water management. Our infrastructure, including our ability to shift between different water sources, positions us to deliver consistent, high-quality service even in drought conditions. We will continue to closely monitor water supply levels over the coming weeks and encourage our customers to do their part by monitoring their usage in their MyWater account and following simple conservation tips that can be found on our website at https://lnkd.in/e2gU-n8U.

River Network is hiring a River Programs Associate

Register today for our Annual Board and Member meeting Nov 21st at American Water's HQ in Camden, NJ! Get the latest on the State of the Basin with Kristen Bowman Kavanagh, Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC). Larry Finnicum with Veolia North America will lead a roundtable discussion on key issues and priorities for water resources including drought response and preparing for a new administration, with time to answer your questions. The panel includes Chris Crockett Aqua, Scott Schreiber Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority, Seung Ah Byun, PhD, PE Chester County Water Resources Authority, and Eric Hahn American Water. Please register today! There is no cost for this event, but registration is required to attend.

#ICYMI: New Jersey American Water President Mark McDonough shared that over 10,000 lead or galvanized steel customer-owned service lines have been replaced across the state to date. Learn more below ??.