The State of the Delaware River Basin and Estuary: “400 Years from Henry
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The State of the Delaware River Basin and Estuary: “400 years from Henry Hudson to JFK” 600 A.D.- Lenni Lenape fish in pristine waters. 1609 – Henry Hudson sails to Capes. 1638 – Swedes sail to Christinakill. 1682 – William Penn founder of Philadelphia. 1776 – Declaration of Independence signed. 1802 – DuPont found mills along Brandywine. 1880 – Drinking water causes cholera. 1887 – 22 million lb oysters harvested from bay. 1896 – 14 million lb of shad caught in river. 1900 – Oyster, shad, sturgeon fishery begin to collapse. WWI –Industries dump raw sewage in Clyde of America. 1931 – Supreme Court OKs NYC diversion of 400 mgd. 1936 – DE, NJ, NY, and PA create INCODEL. Trenton only city with sewage treatment. 1940 – Delaware River one of most grossly polluted in world. WWII – Pilots comment on rotten egg smell. Navy ships turn to color of rainbow. 1952 - Delaware River “outstanding example of destruction of bass habitat by industrial and domestic pollution”. 1959 – 236 towns have wastewater plants. 1955, Hurricanes Connie and Diane hammered the Delaware Basin causing killer floods and leaving an “oily film of silt… and a terrible stench – an aroma of feces and rotting flesh.” 1960 – Only 100,000 bushels of oysters harvested due to MSX disease. 1961 – JFK signs Delaware River Basin Compact. 1968 – DRBC issues waste load allocations. 1970 – Earth Day. Richard Nixon creates USEPA. 1971 - “gross pollution of tidal freshwater had extirpated the striped bass from its historical chief spawning and nursery areas in the Delaware River” 1972 – Richard Nixon signs Clean Water Act. 1973 – USEPA official says Delaware River/Bay will never meet fishable standards. 1973 – NY bans phosphate detergent. 1974 - Water quality in the tidal Delaware River improving but still poor, “extirpation of the remnant (shad) runs is distinct possibility”. 1985 – Over $1.5 billion spent on wastewater treatment. 1988 – Delaware River and Bay observed best water quality in 50 years. 1993 - Increased shad, striped bass, and white perch coincide with improved water quality. 1996 – States form Delaware Estuary Program. Over 90% of Delaware Estuary meet fishable and swimmable goals. 2000 – American shad/striped bass return to river/bay. 2005 – DO at Ben Franklin Bridge exceeds 4 ppm. Dissolved Oxygen during High Water Slack Delaware River (Sep 15, 1958) 100 80 60 DO Saturation (%) 40 20 0 0 102030405060708090 Miles above Delaware Bay DO and NH3 Profile Delaware River and Bay (July 1967) 8 6 mg/l 4 2 0 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 River Mile Dissolved Oxygen NH3 CBOD Loading along the Delaware Estuary 1.0 0.8 0.6 CBOD (M lb) 0.4 0.2 0.0 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 Muni ci pal Industrial Summer Ammonium N and Total Phosphorus Delaware River at Marcus Hook, PA 1.5 1.0 0.5 July 4-year moving average average July 4-year moving 0.0 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 Total Phosphorus Ammonium N Mean Annual Dissolved Oxygen Delaware River and Bay 10 8 6 (mg/l) 4 2 Dissolved Oxygen Dissolved 0 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 1967 1980 2003 River Mile Water Quality Trends along Penna. Streams in the Delaware River Basin 30 25 20 No. of Streams 15 10 5 0 Nitrite + Nitrate Total P Improving Constant Degrading Dissolved Oxygen Delaware River at Ben Franklin Bridge, Philadelphia USGS 01467200 14 12 10 DO 8 (mg/l) 6 4 2 0 J-60 J-70 J-80 J-90 J-00 J-10 Dissolved Oxygen Lehigh River at Easton, PA 20 USGS 1454720 15 DO 10 (mg/l) 5 0 J-60 J-70 J-80 J-90 J-00 J-10 Dissolved Oxygen Schuylkill River at Linwood, PA USGS 1472104 20 15 DO 10 (mg/l) 5 0 J-80 J-90 J-00 J-10 Dissolved Oxygen Brandywine Creek at Chadds Ford, PA USGS 1481000 20 15 DO 10 (mg/l) 5 0 J-70 J-80 J-90 J-00 J-10 Total Phosphorus Delaware River at Trenton, N. J. 0.5 0.4 0.3 (mg/l) 0.2 0.1 0.0 J-70 J-75 J-80 J-85 J-90 J-95 J-00 J-05 Total Phosphorus Lehigh River at Glendon, PA 0.5 0.4 0.3 (mg/l) 0.2 0.1 0.0 J-70 J-75 J-80 J-85 J-90 J-95 J-00 J-05 Total Phosphorus Schuylkill River at Philadelphia, PA 1.0 0.8 0.6 (mg/l) 0.4 0.2 0.0 J-70 J-75 J-80 J-85 J-90 J-95 J-00 J-05 Total Phosphorus Brandywine River above Wilmington, DE 0.5 0.4 0.3 (mg/l) 0.2 0.1 0.0 J-80 J-85 J-90 J-95 J-00 J-05 Total Suspended Sediment Schuylkill River at Philadelphia, PA 50 40 30 (mg/l) 20 10 0 J-70 J-75 J-80 J-85 J-90 J-95 J-00 J-05 Population Delaware River Basin 9,000,000 8,000,000 7,000,000 6,000,000 5,000,000 4,000,000 3,000,000 2,000,000 1,000,000 0 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 1930 Land Use 2001 Land Use Delaware River Basin Delaware River Basin 386 386 568 1860 4117 3342 7980 7044 Developed Agriculture Forest Water/Wetlands Developed Agriculture Forest Water/Wetlands Land Use Change in the Delaware River Basin 1996 - 2001 80 Developed 60 40 20 0 sq mi. Water/Wetlands Barren -20 Agriculture -40 Forest -60 -80 Land Use Transition in the Delaware River Basin 1996 - 2001 8000 7093 7045 7000 6000 5000 sq mi 4000 3361 3342 3000 1860 2000 1790 1000 572 568 0 Developed Agriculture Forest WaterWetland 1996 2001 Land Use, 2001 DB 1 DB 2 Delaware River Basin LE 2 LE 3 LE 1 UE 2 Barren/Bare UE 1 SV 3 SV 2 SV 1 Developed 1100 LC 1 1000 UC 2 900 UC 1 800 LV 3 WaterWetland 700 LV 2 600 LV 1 500 NM 1 Agriculture Square Miles Square 400 LW 1 300 EW 3 EW 2 200 Forest EW 1 100 0 Change in Land Use Area in the Delaware River Basin 1996 - 2001 15 10 5 (sq mi) 0 EW 1 EW 2 EW 3 LW 1 NM 1 LV 1 LV 2 LV 3 UC 1 UC 2 LC 1 SV 1 SV 2 SV 3 UE 1 UE 2 LE 1 LE 3 LE 2 DB 2 DB 1 -5 -10 -15 Developed Agriculture Forest Water/Wetlands (sq mi) (sq -1.5 -1.0 -0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 Change in Water plus Wetlands, 1996- 2001 EW 1 EW 2 EW 3 LW 1 NM 1 Delaware River Basin LV 1 LV 2 LV 3 Subwatersheds UC 1 UC 2 LC 1 SV 1 SV 2 SV 3 UE 1 UE 2 LE 1 LE 3 LE 2 DB 2 DB 1 (sq mi) (sq -10.0 10.0 -8.0 -6.0 -4.0 -2.0 0.0 2.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 Forest Change in the Delaware River Basin, 1996- 2001 Basin, River the Delaware in Change Forest EW 1 EW 2 EW 3 LW 1 NM 1 LV 1 LV 2 LV 3 UC 1 UC 2 LC 1 SV 1 SV 2 SV 3 UE 1 UE 2 LE 1 LE 3 LE 2 DB 2 DB 1 Superfund Sites by DRBC Subwatershed 414 300 262 164 # of EPA CERLIS Sites CERLIS EPA of # 78 78 77 53 60 34 33 37 31 29 19 4 6 4 5 12 4 EW 1 EW 2 EW 3 LW 1 NM 1 UC 1 UC 2 LV 1 LV 2 LV 3 LC 1 SV 1 SV 2 SV 3 UE 1 UE 2 LE 1 LE 2 LE 3 DB 1 DB 2 Subwatershed Schuylkill River at Philadelphia, PA (SV3) 1.0 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 Total Phosphorus (mg/l) 0.0 J-70 J-75 J-80 J-85 J-90 J-95 J-00 J-05 Dissolved Oxygen (5-yr Median) Delaware River and Bay 15 10 5 DO (mg/L) 0 RM 304 RM 253 RM 246 RM 175 RM 134 RM 100 RM 82 RM 55 RM 22 Callicoon Port Jervis Montague Riegelsville Trenton NJ Ben Chester PA Reedy Egg Island, NY NY NJ NJ Franklin Island DE NJ Bridge 1970-75 1996-2000 2001-05 DRBC DO Standard Total Phosphorus (5-yr Median) Delaware River and Bay 0.2 0.15 0.1 Total P (mg/l) 0.05 0 RM 304 RM 253 RM 246 RM 175 RM 134 RM 100 RM 55 RM 22 Callicoon NY Port Jervis NY Montague NJ Riegelsville NJ Trenton NJ Ben Franklin Reedy Island Egg Island NJ Bridge DE 1971-75 1996-00 2001-05 DRBC Total P Standard Nitrate + Nitrite N (5-yr Median) Delaware River and Bay 2 1.5 N (mg/L) 1 0.5 0 RM 22 RM 55 RM 100 RM 134 RM 175 RM 246 RM 253 RM 304 Egg Island NJ Reedy Island Ben Franklin Trenton, NJ Riegelsville NJ Montague NJ Port Jervis NY Callicoon NY DE Bridge 1971-1975 1991-1995 2001-2005 DRBC N Standard Total Susp. Sediment, (10-Yr Median) Delaware River and Bay 60 50 40 30 TSS (mg/L) 20 10 0 304 253 246 175 134 100 55 22 0 Callicoon NY Port Jervis Montague NJ Riegelsville Trenton NJ Ben Franklin Reedy Island Egg Island Mouth of Bay NY NJ Bridge, PA DE NJ 1970-1980 1991-2000 2001-2005 DRBC TSS Standard Cooper River at Haddonfield, NJ Cooper River at Haddonfield, NJ 20 10 8 15 6 10 4 5 2 Total Nitrogen (mg/l) Nitrogen Total Dissolved Oxygen (mg/l) Dissolved 0 0 J-70 J-75 J-80 J-85 J-90 J-95 J-00 J-05 J-70 J-75 J-80 J-85 J-90 J-95 J-00 J-05 Cooper River at Haddonfield, NJ 1.0 0.8 0.6 0.4 Phosphorus (mg/l) 0.2 0.0 J-70 J-75 J-80 J-85 J-90 J-95 J-00 J-05 Median Atrazine Concentrations Surface Water in the Delaware River Basin 1.0 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.233 Median Atrazine (ug/L) Atrazine Median 0.2 0.158 0.111 0.080 0.063 0.047 0.030 0.002 0.002 0.006 0.005 0.003 0.000 0.011 0.004 0.008 0.013 0.0 EW 1 EW 2 EW 3 LW 1 NM 1 UC 1 UC 2 LV1 LV 2 LV 3 LC 1 SV 2 SV 3 LE 1 UE 1 UE 2 DB 2 Subwatershed Water Temperature Delaware River at Trenton, NJ 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 Water Temperature C) (deg 5 0 1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 Year Yearly Median Summer Median Summer Max 5 per.