three fisher people wading in the river and a rowboat

David B. Soete

still river in the summer

David B. Soete

a series of short cascading falls along side large flat boulders

David B. Soete

looking up river towards Hancock, NY

David B. Soete

stark ariel photo of a boat with two fisherman

David B. Soete

Winter on the Delaware River

David B. Soete

Undammed

The main stem of the Delaware is the longest free-flowing (undammed) river east of the Mississippi. Tributary river flows are controlled by upstream reservoirs operated by the City of New York. Under a 1954 Decree signed by the United States Supreme Court, in times of normal precipitation and runoff, the average daily flow at the northernmost river gauge in Montague, New Jersey must be maintained at 1,750 cubic feet per second.

Delaware River valley in the summer
Photo Credit: David B. Soete
Did You Know?

The main stem of the Delaware River extends 330 miles from the confluence of its East and West Branches near Hancock, NY to the mouth of the Delaware Bay. While almost 7% of the nation’s population relies on the Delaware Basin’s waters for drinking and industrial use, the watershed drains only 0.4% of the continental U.S. land area. In all, the basin comprises 13,539 square miles, including portions of Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.