Future Fanatic
Nirvana
This was an article written by David Rossie in the Binghamton "Press and Sun Bulletin" on Sunday. I thought that I would post it here for all of you unfortunate souls that live so far away from the upper Delaware system
You can find it on the web, here:
http://www.pressconnects.com/today/sports/stories/sp081703s23216.shtml
Delaware anglers get relief from NYC
DAVID ROSSIE / Press & Sun-Bulletin
For a moment it appeared that Jim Serio might be channeling the ghost of Charles Dickens. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."
Well, that's not exactly what Serio said. What he said was this: May saw the best fishing in years on the West Branch of the Delaware River, June saw the worst. More about that later.
Serio knows whereof he speaks. He is a fishing guide on the river and he is founder of the Delaware River Foundation, an organization formed to promote better water management in the Upper Delaware system.
At present, and since 1954, that system has been managed by New York City under the aegis of the Delaware River Basin Commission. The Upper Delaware system, with reservoirs on the east and west branches of the Delaware and on the Neversink River, is the main source of the city's water. The main Delaware winds its way through three other states before it reaches the sea -- Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware -- hence the DRBC.
To prevent salt water in the river's lower reaches from extending upstream past Philadelphia, Pa., and Camden, N.J., the DRBC requires a minimum flow at 1,750 cubic feet per second at Montague, N.J. To help meet that demand, New York City draws a lion's share of Upper Delaware water from the Cannonsville Reservoir on the West Branch because its water is less potable than water from the East Branch and Neversink.
This has resulted over the years in wildly fluctuating releases from the Cannonsville Reservoir, producing feast or famine conditions for aquatic life in the river from Stilesville downstream to the river's junction with the East Branch at Hancock. That is the central reason the Delaware River Foundation came to be.
Last Tuesday the DRF held its third annual Day on the Delaware conference at the West Branch Angler resort at Hale Eddy, midway between Deposit and Hancock. The first two gatherings were marked by frustration and anger over the city's intransigence in matters relating to establishing a reservoir release regimen beneficial to aquatic life and the recreational potential of the West Branch. Tuesday's was guardedly optimistic.
There were signs -- faint but real -- of a thaw in relations between the city and organizations that have come together out of concern for the river's status as a fishery: The DRF, Trout Unlimited, the Nature Conservancy to name a few. But first the Dickens reference.
May's fishing on the West Branch was superb, Serio said, because rainfall was plentiful and Cannonsville was spilling. Instead of being starved for water as is often the case when the 45 cfs winter release program is in effect until June, the river in May was consistently high, which was good for the fish and good for drift boat guides.
Came June, however, and the dam was still spilling, but now it was spilling surface water that had become warm -- too warm. The river remained high, Serio said, but warm water from the reservoir and from feeder streams raised hob with the fly hatches and the fishing suffered. And continued to suffer through July.
Then something good happened. Last weekend, Serio said, the city began voluntarily releasing large amounts of water from the depths of the impoundment, which immediately lowered water temperatures in the river that had been approaching 70 degrees downstream.
That posed no hardship for the city, he noted, in that Cannonsville was at 98 percent of capacity as of Tuesday.
"It would have been nice if they'd done it a month ago," Serio said, "but it's a good sign that they offered to do it."
Some other facts about what New York City is doing with water siphoned off from upstate watersheds:
* New York's per capita daily water consumption is 160 gallons, the highest in the nation. Boston's by contrast is 60 gallons.
* The main aqueduct carrying water to the city from upstate is leaking at an average rate of 37 million gallons a day. That is approximately 13.5 billion gallons a year. The city's Department of Environmental Protection has said it plans to fix the leaks. Someday.
"Whiskey is for drinkin'. Water is for fightin'." Mark Twain.
Rossie is associate editor of the Press & Sun-Bulletin. His Wildlife Watch appears on Sundays.
You can find it on the web, here:
http://www.pressconnects.com/today/sports/stories/sp081703s23216.shtml
Delaware anglers get relief from NYC
DAVID ROSSIE / Press & Sun-Bulletin
For a moment it appeared that Jim Serio might be channeling the ghost of Charles Dickens. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."
Well, that's not exactly what Serio said. What he said was this: May saw the best fishing in years on the West Branch of the Delaware River, June saw the worst. More about that later.
Serio knows whereof he speaks. He is a fishing guide on the river and he is founder of the Delaware River Foundation, an organization formed to promote better water management in the Upper Delaware system.
At present, and since 1954, that system has been managed by New York City under the aegis of the Delaware River Basin Commission. The Upper Delaware system, with reservoirs on the east and west branches of the Delaware and on the Neversink River, is the main source of the city's water. The main Delaware winds its way through three other states before it reaches the sea -- Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware -- hence the DRBC.
To prevent salt water in the river's lower reaches from extending upstream past Philadelphia, Pa., and Camden, N.J., the DRBC requires a minimum flow at 1,750 cubic feet per second at Montague, N.J. To help meet that demand, New York City draws a lion's share of Upper Delaware water from the Cannonsville Reservoir on the West Branch because its water is less potable than water from the East Branch and Neversink.
This has resulted over the years in wildly fluctuating releases from the Cannonsville Reservoir, producing feast or famine conditions for aquatic life in the river from Stilesville downstream to the river's junction with the East Branch at Hancock. That is the central reason the Delaware River Foundation came to be.
Last Tuesday the DRF held its third annual Day on the Delaware conference at the West Branch Angler resort at Hale Eddy, midway between Deposit and Hancock. The first two gatherings were marked by frustration and anger over the city's intransigence in matters relating to establishing a reservoir release regimen beneficial to aquatic life and the recreational potential of the West Branch. Tuesday's was guardedly optimistic.
There were signs -- faint but real -- of a thaw in relations between the city and organizations that have come together out of concern for the river's status as a fishery: The DRF, Trout Unlimited, the Nature Conservancy to name a few. But first the Dickens reference.
May's fishing on the West Branch was superb, Serio said, because rainfall was plentiful and Cannonsville was spilling. Instead of being starved for water as is often the case when the 45 cfs winter release program is in effect until June, the river in May was consistently high, which was good for the fish and good for drift boat guides.
Came June, however, and the dam was still spilling, but now it was spilling surface water that had become warm -- too warm. The river remained high, Serio said, but warm water from the reservoir and from feeder streams raised hob with the fly hatches and the fishing suffered. And continued to suffer through July.
Then something good happened. Last weekend, Serio said, the city began voluntarily releasing large amounts of water from the depths of the impoundment, which immediately lowered water temperatures in the river that had been approaching 70 degrees downstream.
That posed no hardship for the city, he noted, in that Cannonsville was at 98 percent of capacity as of Tuesday.
"It would have been nice if they'd done it a month ago," Serio said, "but it's a good sign that they offered to do it."
Some other facts about what New York City is doing with water siphoned off from upstate watersheds:
* New York's per capita daily water consumption is 160 gallons, the highest in the nation. Boston's by contrast is 60 gallons.
* The main aqueduct carrying water to the city from upstate is leaking at an average rate of 37 million gallons a day. That is approximately 13.5 billion gallons a year. The city's Department of Environmental Protection has said it plans to fix the leaks. Someday.
"Whiskey is for drinkin'. Water is for fightin'." Mark Twain.
Rossie is associate editor of the Press & Sun-Bulletin. His Wildlife Watch appears on Sundays.
