FLOWING TOWARD THE FUTURE 21st Century Directions for the Delaware River and Its Watersheds

Flowing Toward The Future is a multi-step process dealing with the future of the Delaware River Basin. It is designed to generate a vision for the river and its tributaries in the new millennium.

Ten workshops were held in 1999 from April 19 to May 6 at five locations throughout the Delaware River Basin (click here for the sites). The purpose of the workshops was to seek input -- visions, concerns and ideas -- from the Basin community. A copy of the Invitation to Attend the Workshops (55 KB) can be downloaded (requires Adobe Acrobat*).

Click here to learn about the results from the workshops.

Information and insights flowing from the workshops were used to develop a "21st Century Visions and Directions" report. This report presents a series of vision statements and directions that point to a specific future for the Delaware River and the numerous watersheds that feed it. The report also includes possible ways of addressing the directions and, therefore, attaining the visions.

This report was submitted to the governors of the four basin states (Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania) at a summit meeting on September 29, 1999. The purpose of the Governors' Summit was to highlight basin-wide planning efforts and reaffirm the commitment of the states and key agencies.

The final Flowing Toward the Future event is a watershed-wide conference to be held November 15-17, 1999. This conference will build upon the first two events, helping to establish directions and models for cooperative action that will sustain the river, its tributaries, and its watersheds into the next century and beyond.

Sponsored by: Alliance for a Sustainable Future; Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control; Delaware Estuary Program; Delaware River Basin Commission; Heritage Conservancy; National Park Service; New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection; New York State Department of Environmental Conservation; Partnership for the Delaware Estuary; Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection; United States Environmental Protection Agency; Upper Delaware Council; and the Water Resources Association of the Delaware River Basin.