Delaware River Watershed Local Assistance

REVISED 5/24/2000
Delaware River Watershed Local Assistance

This is a request for Congress to appropriate $375,000 to enable the Heritage Conservancy, in cooperation with State and local governments and community organizations, to support conservation, community revitalization, local training and cultural preservation initiatives in the Delaware River basin. The Heritage Conservancy is a non-profit, membership organization, founded in 1958 to protect natural and cultural heritage.

For over five years the Heritage Conservancy has been working with Federal, Interstate, State and local governments, conservation groups, the Delaware River Basin Commission and the private sector to support local conservation and revitalization. This collaboration evolved from increased awareness about the need to increase support for local action, in a coordinated manner, using a watershed approach. Despite noteworthy efforts by the Delaware River Interstate Basin Commission and the Delaware Bay Estuary Program, the Delaware River watershed has not had a private sector effort that has been designed to represent the needs and interests of community-based efforts, within a watershed context prior to this effort.

This local watershed cooperation has resulted in the “Delaware River Watershed Initiative” which was created in cooperation with XX public and private governments and organizations to: 1) help communities help themselves to conserve and revitalize important quality of life resources; and 2) coordinate government and private sector actions within the entire watershed to avoid conflicts and increase private and public funding for locally-initiated projects.

The Delaware River effort intends to support recommendations developed collaboratively over the last decade as part of the “Flowing Toward the Future”, the Lower Delaware River Management Plan, and the Delaware River Estuary Program Comprehensive Management Plan. Each of these efforts were completed with broad public and private sector involvement and the assistance and support of the basin’s four states of Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Delaware, the Delaware River Basin Commission and numerous Federal agencies including the National Park Service and Environmental Protection Agency.

The Heritage Conservancy proposes to uses these funds for services that would help unify and benefit Delaware River watershed communities by: 1) serving as a central clearinghouse for community information on public and private sector programs with the ability to meet local needs; 2) providing project planning and technical assistance, including design services, development and marketing plans to local communities; 3) developing and initiating a long-term Delaware River watershed training program for local officials and other community leaders; and 4) providing small-seed grants to communities for on-the-ground conservation and revitalization projects.

A total of $375,000 of Federal funds is requested for the Delaware River Watershed Initiative. These federal funds will be matched with non-federal funds and assistance. The total budget for this initiative is $1,500,000.