Delaware River Management Plan
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Delaware River Management Plan A management plan focusing on the large river habitats of the West Branch Delaware River and Non-tidal reach of the Delaware River of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission Bureau of Fisheries Division of Fisheries Management 1601 Elmerton Avenue P.O. Box 67000 Harrisburg, PA 17106-7000 Delaware River Management Plan Page | 1 Table of Contents Table of Contents List of Tables ............................................................................................................................ ii List of Figures ......................................................................................................................... v List of Appendix A Figures ...................................................................................................... x List of Appendix B Figures ...................................................................................................... xii Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................. xiii Executive Summary ................................................................................................................ xiv 1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 1 2. Special Jurisdictions .......................................................................................................... 5 3. River Basin Features ......................................................................................................... 16 4. River Characteristics ......................................................................................................... 36 5. River Hydrology ................................................................................................................. 45 6. River Habitats .................................................................................................................... 89 7. Riverine Biota .................................................................................................................... 110 8. Fisheries ............................................................................................................................ 145 9. Human Dimensions ........................................................................................................... 198 10. Management Options ......................................................................................................... 206 11. Literature Cited .................................................................................................................. 208 12. Appendix A ........................................................................................................................ 226 13. Appendix B ........................................................................................................................ 233 Delaware River Management Plan Page | i List of Tables List of Tables 2.1. Listing of public lands within Pennsylvania along the West Branch Delaware and Delaware rivers. .............................................................................................................14 4.1. Gradient, average river widths and Chapter 93 designations for the mainstems of West Branch Delaware and Delaware rivers. ...........................................................41 5.1. Major dams and locations within the Delaware River Basin. .........................................74 6.1. Listing of named and un-named islands and bars in the West Branch Delaware and Delaware rivers. ...................................................................................................101 6.2. Listing of bridges across the shared border waters of the West Branch Delaware and Delaware rivers. ...................................................................................................103 6.3. Listing of identified vegetation classifications in the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River. ......................................................................................................104 6.4. Listing of identified vegetation associations and Anderson level II categories in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreational Area. .......................................................106 6.5. Riparian communities within the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River and Delaware Water Gap National Recreational Area. ................................................109 7.1. Indicator species for Atlantic Basin fish communities as identified by the Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program, Pennsylvania Aquatic Community Classification project. ..................................................................................................124 7.2. Gamefish species within the West Branch Delaware and Delaware rivers. .................126 7.3. Checklist and abundance of species collected during the Tri-state rotenone survey in the Delaware River, 1959-1962. ...................................................................127 7.4. Total catch by species from the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission trap net survey in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, August 1983. ..............129 7.5. Total catch by species from the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission experimental gill net survey in the Delaware River from Yardley, PA upriver to Lambertville wing dam. ................................................................................................130 7.6. Impingement and entrainment of fishes at the Portland Generating Station. ...............131 Delaware River Management Plan Page | ii List of Tables 7.7. Impingement and entrainment of fishes at the Fairless Hills Generating Station. ......................................................................................................132 7.8. Total number of each fish species documented between 2004 and 2007 in the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River and Delaware Water Gap National Recreational Area. .........................................................................................133 7.9. Total passage of fishes through the Easton Dam vertical slot fishway on the Lehigh River at the confluence of the Delaware River. ................................................135 7.10. Freshwater mussel total count, catch-per-unit-effort, and percentage of total mussel population for the mainstem Delaware River in the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River and Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. .............136 7.11. List of amphibian and reptile species recognized by Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission expected in the West Branch Delaware and Delaware rivers and potentially occurring in the floodplain. ..........................................................................137 7.12. Occurrence of amphibians and reptiles documented within the Delaware Water Gap National Recreational Area. .................................................................................138 7.13. Listing of aquatic vascular plant occurrence from Wahl (1959) survey of the upper and middle Delaware River reaches. ...........................................................................139 7.14. Abundance of identified vascular aquatic plants within the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River and Delaware Water Gap National Recreational Area, 1991-1992. .........................................................................................................140 7.15. Threatened and endangered species as listed in the Federal Endangered Species Act and Pennsylvania by Title 58, Chapter 75 of the Pennsylvania Code ...................141 7.16. Species identified by the United States Geological Survey on their non-indigenous aquatic species listing for the non-tidal Delaware River. ..............................................142 8.1. Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission Fishery Management Section descriptions for the mainstems of West Branch Delaware and Delaware rivers. .........170 8.2. Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission Commonwealth Inland regulations – by location for the Delaware River mainstem waters inclusive of the West Branch Delaware River and the Delaware Estuary for the 2011 season. ................................171 8.3. Historical stocking records by Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission into the Delaware River mainstem reaches, separated by Fishery Management Sections. .....173 Delaware River Management Plan P a g e | iii List of Tables 8.4. Fish consumption advisory for recreationally harvested fishes from the entire Delaware River Basin. .................................................................................................178 8.5. The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission fixed station locations and dates sampled for young-of-the-year and adult smallmouth bass within the Delaware River.180 8.6. Trout density of age 1, 2, and 3 wild brown trout at New York Department of Environmental Conservation four standard sites in the West Branch Delaware River. .....................................................................................181 8.7. Total catch and harvest estimates on the upper Delaware River between April 12th – October 17th, 1982. ....................................................................................182 8.8. Angler catch and harvest statistics from the 2002 creel survey in the East Branch Delaware and Delaware rivers. ....................................................................................183