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The Pennsylvania State University the Graduate School Department The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School Department of Geography TOCKS ISLAND DAM, THE DELAWARE RIVER AND THE END OF THE BIG-DAM ERA A Thesis in Geography By Gina Bloodworth Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy August 2005 The thesis of Gina Bloodworth was reviewed and approved* by the following: C. Gregory Knight Professor of Geography Thesis Advisor Chair of Committee Deryck W. Holdsworth Professor of Geography James P. McCarthy Assistant Professor of Geography Stephen Beckerman Professor of Anthropology Roger M. Downs Professor of Geography Head of the Department of Geography *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School iii ABSTRACT The Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area sits in the backyard of both New York City and Philadelphia. What seemed to be a universally supported water policy to build a major dam across the Delaware River precipitated instead to one of the most contentious regional fights over water policy and dam building in the East. Had the dam been built, it would have been the eighth largest dam project ever attempted by the Corps of Engineers. The resulting reservoir was slated to inundate approximately forty miles of valley along the Pennsylvania-New Jersey border, up to its border with New York State. In this densely populated and rapidly urbanized watershed basin, echoes of power struggles and environmental crisis rippled throughout the Atlantic seaboard from New York City to Washington D.C. Utilizing a mixed qualitative methodology that includes interviews, archival and legal research, and content analysis of multiple media sources, this dissertation examines how the Tocks Island Dam project came about, and how it fell apart after three decades of controversy, dissent, coalitions, propaganda wars, legal maneuvering, and chaos. This research provides a textural understanding of how the Delaware River became the nexus of conflicts between multiple and overlapping scales of water managers, large government institutions such as the Corps of Engineers and various alliances of stakeholders within a unique location in time and space. Uniquely situated chronologically as well as geographically, the fight over the Tocks Island Dam occurred during the tumultuous decades before and after the landmark environmental legislation of iv the 1970s, and during the end of the Big Dam Era. The transition from the previous dam- centered era of water policy in America to the more eco-centric era of environmental protection produced the most radical change in national water management directions in the last century. And during this transformation in national policy, the fate of Tocks Island Dam and the Delaware River became entangled in, and contributed to those larger social changes. Today the resulting compromise of the decades-long struggle over water in the Delaware River, the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, is by far the most visited park east of the Mississippi River in the National Park system. However, the original dilemmas about flood control, drought control, drinking water, and water quality still lurk in the backdrop of water tensions and will most certainly reassert themselves in the future. Keywords: Water Resources, Delaware River, Resource Management, Qualitative Analysis, Environmental Conflict v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS ……………..…………xii LIST OF FIGURES………………………………………………….…….xivv LIST OF TABLES……………………………….……………….……….…xv Preface…………………………………………………….……………..…..xvi Chapter 1 Why Resources and Rivers are Hard to Manage…………………………………………………………….….......1 Introduction……………………………………………………………………1 Where is the Delaware River?……………………………………………..….1 Resource Management Dilemmas……………………………………….……4 Water Management…………………………………………………………..10 Controversy on the Delaware River………………………………………….14 Interrogation of Relevant Qualitative Research Methods…………….……...17 Data Formats and Analytical Tools………………………………….…….....19 Constraints of the Study………………………………….……………….….26 vi Chapter 2 Towards a Central Park for Megalopolis: Evolving Rationale for Building a Dam on the Delaware River………………………………………………………...………34 Introduction…………………………………………………………..…..34 Early Delaware River History…………………………………………....34 Planning Stages for the Tocks Island Dam………………………………41 Floods, Droughts and Federal Authorization…………….……………....46 Central Park for Megalopolis…………………………………………….52 Chapter 3 1962—Congressional Authorization of the Tocks Island Dam Project……………………………………………………..…..61 Introduction……………………………………………………………....61 Corps of Engineers………………………………………………….…....63 More than Just Dredging Rivers…………………….……….……...65 Sibling Rivalry……………………………………………………....68 Legal Arsenal………………………………………………………….....72 vii Federalism……………………………………..……………..….....73 Law and Geography…………………………….…………..……...75 Conflict Resolution Options…………………….…………..……..76 Rise of Recreation………………………….….…………….……..78 Media………………………………………………………….…….…..81 Silent Spring…………………………………………….……..…...82 Tennessee Valley Authority……………………………….….…....83 Conclusion……………………………………………………………....85 Chapter 4 1966--A Gathering Storm in the Minisink Valley………………………………………………………………92 Introduction…………………………………………………………......92 Corps of Engineers……………………………………………….……...93 Esprit de Corps……………………………………………………..93 Planning Process…………………………………………..……......93 Preliminary Examination……………………………………..…….96 viii Survey………………………………………………………..……96 Authorization………………………………………………..…….97 After authorization………………………………………………...98 Congressional Powerhouse……………………………….……….99 Techno-Wizards to Technocrats…………………………….…...105 Land Acquisition…………………………………………….…...109 Legal Arsenal…………………………………………………..……..112 DRBC………………………………………………….………...113 Class Action Law Suit…………………………….……………..116 Media………………………………………………………………....118 Pamphlets and Congressional Pressure………………………….119 Sunfish Pond…………………………………………………….128 Conclusion………………….…………………………………….….130 Chapter 5 1970--Piles of Trials………………………………………135 Introduction…………………………………………………..………135 ix Media……………………………………………………………….136 Sunfish Explosion………………………………………….…..136 Underground Press: The Minisink Bull…………………..…....141 Legal Arsenal………………………………………………….……143 NEPA and Environmental Impact Statement(s)…………….....143 Congressional Debate……………………………………....….146 Impact of NEPA in the Courts…………………………..…..…149 NEPA, Tocks and the Council on Environmental Quality……………………….…………………………...……153 Corps of Engineers………………………………………………....156 Trouble from the Outside……………………………….…..…157 Trouble inside the Corps………………………………..……..160 Conclusion…………………………………………………….……164 Chapter 6 1975--Between a Rock and a Hard Place……………..…169 Introduction………………………………………………….….…..169 x NEPA-CEQ--More studies…………………………………………...170 Cost-Benefit Analysis under Fire………………………………..…...174 What about Secondary Impacts?………………………………..…....179 Challenges for the Corps and BuRec…………………………………182 Clean Water Act Amendments……………………………………….189 Endangered Species Act………………………………………….…..191 The Squatters…………………………………………………………194 Between a Rock and a Hard Place……………………………………201 DRBC, Chickens and a ‘No-Confidence’ Vote……………….……...204 Conclusion……………………………………………………………209 Chapter 7 1992: The Rules Change Again…………………………...215 Introduction…………………………………………………………...215 The 1975 “No-Vote” Implications……………………………………216 Attempted Congressional De-authorizations………………………....218 Wild and Scenic Designation for the Delaware……………….……...222 xi Litigation or Negotiation?…………………………………………….227 Changes in the Corps………………………………………………....232 Water Policy in the Reagan Years……………………………….…....235 Conclusion……………………………………………………….……241 Chapter 8 On Borrowed Time……………………………...….….…247 Introduction……………………………………………………………247 Politics, Law and Geography Collide…………………………….…...247 The Wildcard of Citizen Action……………………………………….253 Bad Blood and Regional Identity………………………………….…...254 Effective Policy: The End of the Big Dam Era……………………..….256 Future Research………………………………………………………...256 Bibliography…………………………………………………….……...261 xii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS BuRec Bureau of Reclamation CB Cost Benefit Analysis CEQ Council on Environmental Quality cfs Cubic Feet per Second Corps U.S. Army Corps of Engineers CWA Clean Water Amendments DRB Delaware River Basin DRBC Delaware River Basin Commission DVCA Delaware Valley Conservation Association DWGNA Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area EPA Environmental Protection Agency ESA Endangered Species Act NEPA National Environmental Protection Act EDF Environmental Defense Fund EIS Environmental Impact Statement xiii INCODEL Interstate Commission on the Delaware River Basin LLL Lenni Lenape League mgd Million Gallons per Day (1mgd=1.55 cfs) NPS National Park Service SC Supreme Court TVA Tennessee Valley Authority WRA/DRB Water Resources AssociationDelaware River Basin WRDA Water Resources Development Act xiv LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1: Delaware Basin Major Tributaries and Dams……………...………….3 Figure 2.1: New York City’s Drinking Water Supply…………………….……...38 Figure 2.2: Unique Location of the DRB Near Megalopolis……………….…….56 Figure 3.1: Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area boundary within the Delaware River Basin……………………...……...……….…….…..87 Figure 4.1: Corps Project Planning Process and Steps to Consider………….….96 Figure 4.2: Monroe and Pike Counties in Pennsylvania and Sussex and Warren Counties in New Jersey within the DRB………..………………....111 Figure 4.3: Architect’s Development Plan for Tocks Island Dam…….…...…..124 Figure 4.4: WRA/DRB Pamphlet showcasing
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