Population to Water
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.
Archeologists have found remains of prehistoric human settlements on the Delaware River dating back 10,000 years or more. Lenni Lenape Native American tribes appeared some 4,000 years ago. The first lasting settlement on the Upper Delaware River was started at Cushetunk around 1750 by Connecticut residents in search of land ownership.
