ALBANY- Supporters of the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) criticized the state budget for failing to fully fund the commission for yet another year. The budget funds the DRBC at $359,500, which is half of the state’s agreed upon amount of $626,000 and marks the eighth year funding has been at the same level.
“Full fair-share funding from all parties to the DRBC has long been a priority of the Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed (CDRW), and we are deeply disappointed that Governor Hochul and the New York delegation has once again chosen to neglect one of its largest natural resources — the Delaware River Basin — by not including the agreed upon fair-share funding for the DRBC in the state’s FY 2024 budget,” said Kelly Knutson, Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed director. “With full funding support from all the basin states, the DRBC would have the staffing and programming support necessary to effectively monitor water quality and make informed decisions on river flow management to protect and restore the habitat for aquatic species, such as trout and the American shad.”
The commission provides environmental research while monitoring water quality, conducting comprehensive resource and recreation planning, and managing drinking water supplies for 13.3 million people, including half of New York City, throughout the 13,539-square-mile Delaware Basin.
In 1961, for the first time in our nation’s history, the federal government and a group of states joined together as equal partners, without regard to political boundaries, and with the force of law to oversee a unified approach to managing a river system, creating the DRBC.
“We can’t afford to neglect the precious resource we have in the Delaware River basin and all that it provides for us,” the commission wrote in a release. “The Coalition will continue to advocate for New York to readjust its priorities and fully fund its fair share of the DRBC in all future budgets.”
