Technical Summary: State of the Delaware River Basin Report
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Technical Summary: Technical Institute for Public Administration Technical Summary College of Human Services, Education & Public Policy University of Delaware 180 Graham Hall State of the Newark, DE 19716-7380 Delaware Basin State of the Delaware Basin Report State of the Delaware phone: 302-831-8971 e-mail: [email protected] fax: 302-831-3488 Report A report on the health of the www.ipa.udel.edu 13,539-square-mile Delaware River Basin in Delaware, New The University of Delaware’s Institute for Public Administration (IPA) addresses the policy, planning, Jersey, New York, and and management needs of its partners through the integration of applied research, professional Pennsylvania development, and the education of tomorrow’s leaders. Delaware River Basin Partners July 4, 2008 prepared by the University of Delaware in cooperation with July 4, 2008 Cornell University An Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer The University of Delaware is committed to assuring equal opportunity to all persons and does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, Rutgers University gender, age, religion, national origin, veteran or handicapped status, or sexual orientation in its educational programs, activities, admissions or employment practices as required by Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Title VII of the Pennsylvania State University Civil Rights Act of 1964, and other applicable statutes. Inquiries concerning Section 504 compliance and information regarding campus accessibility should be referred to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Coordinator, 831-4643, located at 413 Academy Street. Inquiries concerning Title VII and Title IX should be referred to the Office of the Assistant Vice President for Affirmative Action, 831-8735, located at 124 Hullihen Hall. Technical Summary: State of the Delaware River Basin Report A report on the health of the 13,539-square-mile Delaware River Basin in Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania July 4, 2008 Prepared by Gerald Kauffman, Andrew Belden, and Andrew Homsey University of Delaware, Institute for Public Administration, Water Resources Agency, Newark, Delaware In cooperation with Mary Jane Porter Cornell University, New York State Water Resources Institute Ithaca, New York Archil Zarnadze and Joan Ehrenfeld Rutgers University, New Jersey Water Resources Institute New Brunswick, New Jersey Sabrina Stanwood, Lysle Sherwin, Jonathan Farrell, David DeWalle, Charles Andrew Cole Pennsylvania State University, Water Resources Research Center & Center for Watershed Stewardship State College, Pennsylvania Submitted to Delaware River Basin Commission West Trenton, New Jersey Partnership for the Delaware Estuary Wilmington, Delaware Table of Contents Section Page Acknowledgements vi Funding vii Summary vii Report Card ix Recommendations xi Chapter Page 1. Introduction 1 2. The Delaware River Basin 3 3. Watershed Regions 16 4. Environmental Indicators 25 5. Landscape 29 6. Water Quality 53 7. Water Quantity/Hydrology 108 8. Living Resources 143 9. References 191 List of Figures Figure Page 2.1 Chart of the Delaware River and Bay from Fischer, 1776 3 2.2 The Delaware River Basin 4 2.3 Physiographic provinces in the Delaware River Basin 5 2.4 Synthesized American shad harvest in the Delaware Estuary 7 2.5 Synthesized blue crab harvest in the Delaware Estuary. 8 2.6 Oyster landings in the Delaware Estuary. 8 2.7 Dissolved oxygen and nitrate nitrogen levels along the tidal Delaware River 9 2.8 Dissolved oxygen and ammonia nitrogen profile along the Delaware River and Bay, July 1967 9 2.9 CBOD loading along the Delaware Estuary, 1940–1995 10 2.10 Ammonium N and total phosphorus in the Delaware River at Marcus Hook, PA 11 2.11 Catch per haul of fish species in the Delaware River 12 2.12 American Shad spawning population in the Delaware River at Lambertville, New Jersey 13 2.13 Mean annual dissolved oxygen levels along the Delaware River and Bay 13 2.14 Water quality trends along Pennsylvania streams in the Delaware River Basin 14 2.15 Delaware River Basin interstate water quality zones 15 3.1 Delaware River Basin watershed map 17 3.2 Physiographic provinces in the Delaware River Basin 18 3.3 Stream gages in the Delaware River Basin 19 5.1 Population of the Delaware River Basin 29 5.2 Population density in the Delaware River Basin 30 5.3 Population change in the Delaware River Basin 31 5.4 Land use in the Delaware River Basin, 1930, 1996, and 2001 33 5.5 Land use in the Delaware River Basin, 2001 34 5.6 Land use change in the Delaware River Basin, 1996–2001 35 5.7 Land use transition in the Delaware River Basin, 1996–2001 35 5.8 Land use area in the Delaware River Basin, 1996 36 5.9 Land use area in the Delaware River Basin, 2001 37 5.10 Land use change in Delaware River Basin subwatersheds, 1996–2001 38 5.11 Impervious cover in the Delaware River Basin, 2001 42 Technical Summary – State of the Delaware River Basin Report i Figure Page 5.12 Impervious cover of Delaware River Basin subwatersheds, 2001 43 5.13 Tidal wetlands in the Delaware River Basin 46 5.14 Tidal wetlands and 100 meter buffer areas in the Delaware River Basin 46 5.15 Water plus wetland change in the Delaware River Basin, 1996 to 2001 47 5.16 Forest cover in the Delaware River Basin 48 5.17 Forest change in the Delaware River Basin, 1996–2001 49 5.18 Federal superfund sites in the Delaware River Basin 50 5.19 Road density within stream buffers in the Delaware River Basin 51 5.20 National wild and scenic rivers in the Delaware River Basin 52 6.1 Total phosphorus along the Schuylkill River at Philadelphia 54 6.2 Dissolved oxygen levels along the Delaware River and Bay 58 6.3 Mean daily dissolved oxygen along the Delaware River at Ben Franklin Bridge in Philadelphia 58 6.4 Mean daily dissolved oxygen along the Delaware River at Trenton, N.J. 59 6.5 Mean daily dissolved oxygen along the Lehigh River at Easton, PA 59 6.6 Mean daily dissolved oxygen along the Schuylkill River at Linwood, PA. 60 6.7 Mean daily dissolved oxygen along the Brandywine River at Chadds Ford, PA 60 6.8 Dissolved oxygen along the Delaware, Lehigh, Schuylkill, and Brandywine Rivers 61 6.9 Total phosphorus along the Delaware, Lehigh, Schuylkill, and Brandywine Rivers 63 6.10 Nitrogen and phosphorus levels in agricultural watersheds in the Delaware River Basin 63 6.11 Total suspended sediment along the Lehigh and Schuylkill Rivers 64 6.12 Dissolved oxygen trends in the Delaware River Basin 66 6.13 Nitrogen trends in the Delaware River Basin 67 6.14 Phosphorus trends in the Delaware River Basin 68 6.15 Total suspended sediment trends in the Delaware River Basin 69 6.16 Spatial water quality trends along the Delaware River and Bay 70 6.17 Median water quality levels along the Delaware River and Bay 71 6.18 Median DO, N, P, and TSS trends in the Delaware River Basin since 1990 72 6.19 Median (2001-2005) water quality levels in Delaware River Basin subwatersheds 74 6.20 Water quality trends along the Cooper River at Haddonfield, N.J. 75 6.21 Mercury deposition from all sources in 2001 78 6.22 Mercury concentrations in smallmouth bass in the Delaware River Basin 78 6.23 Methylmercury formation and total mercury in the Delaware River Basin 78 6.24 Copper water quality in the Delaware River Basin 79 6.25 Lead water quality in the Delaware River Basin 80 6.26 Zinc water quality in the Delaware River Basin 81 6.27 Mercury water quality in the Delaware River Basin 82 6.28 Water quality of metals in the Delaware River Basin 84 6.29 PCB in bed sediments in the Delaware River Basin 86 6.30 Frequency of pesticide detection in the Delaware Basin 88 6.31 Median concentration of pesticides in the Delaware Basin 88 6.32 Median atrazine concentrations in Delaware Basin subwatersheds 88 6.33 Atrazine detection in surface and groundwater in the Delaware Basin 89 6.34 Sites with detectable concentrations of atrazine in the Delaware Basin 90 6.35 Metolachlor detection in surface and ground water in the Delaware Basin 91 6.36 Metolachlor concentrations in surface water in the Delaware Basin 91 6.37 Sites with detectable concentrations of metolachor in Delaware River Basin 92 6.38 Median water temperatures in the Delaware River Basin 94 6.39 Water temperatures along the Delaware River and tributaries 95 6.40 Fish consumption advisories by subwatershed in the Delaware River Basin 101 6.41 Fish consumption advisories in the Delaware River Basin (2006) 102 6.42 Impaired streams in the Delaware River Basin (2004) 103 Technical Summary – State of the Delaware River Basin Report ii Figure Page 6.43 USEPA Section 303(d) impaired streams in the Delaware Basin, 2004 104 6.44 Annual location of advanced salt line in the Delaware River 107 6.45 Salt line location along Delaware River during the 1960s drought of record 107 7.1 Water supply withdrawals in the Delaware River Basin 108 7.2 Annual/peak surface water withdrawals in the Delaware River Basin in July (mgd) 109 7.3 The hydrologic cycle 110 7.4 Stream gages in the Delaware River Basin 112 7.5 Mean annual precipitation in the Delaware River Basin 113 7.6 Precipitation and temperature at the Wilmington Airport, Delaware 114 7.7 Precipitation and stream flow along the Delaware River 116 7.8 Precipitation and stream flow along the Delaware River at Callicoon, N.Y.