The Delaware and Raritan Canal is operated and maintained under the terms of a 1986 property lease agreement and maintenance and operations agreement between the Department of Environmental Protection and the New Jersey Water Supply Authority and approved by the Delaware and Raritan Canal  Commission.  The 1986 agreement outlines each party’s responsibilities and serves as an operational permit for maintenance of the canal.

1986 NJWSA Lease Agreement

Pursuant to Schedule B of the 1986 Lease Agreement, the New Jersey Water Supply Authority and the Department of Environmental Protection are authorized to implement a tree trimming plan for the Delaware and Raritan Canal State park, subject to the approval of the Commission.

2023 NJWSA/DEP Tree Trimming Plan

Because the Delaware and Raritan Canal is used as a source of drinking water approximately one million residents of central New Jersey, the Commission’s regulations enforce additional safeguards for the named streams and all the upstream tributaries that discharge to the canal.  These requirements impose additional standards for compliance with the Commission’s Stormwater Runoff and Water Quality Impact Review standards, establish more stringent minimum criteria for the definition of a “major project”, and the provide the basis for the additional protective measures mandated within Commission-regulated stream corridors.  The Commission has provided the following list of the named streams located within the Delaware and Raritan Canal’s 400-square mile drainage basin.  The list also specifies whether a named stream flows into, or bypasses the canal.

Named Streams in Canal Drainage System

In 2021, the Commission signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) and the Department of Environmental Protection State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) which established a cooperative framework for the Commission's visual, historic and natural quality impact review of NJDOT projects to rehabilitate or replace bridges which span the Delaware and Raritan Canal.

DRCC/NJDOT/SHPO Memorandum of Agreement

The Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park Master Plan states that landscape materials used in the park or used on adjoining lands should be native to the region and appropriate for their specific habitat.  In furtherance of this objective, the Commission’s Stormwater Runoff and Water Quality, Stream Corridor Impact, and Visual, Historic and Natural Quality Review contain specific provisions which require the preservation or planting of native vegetation, and prohibit the destruction of native vegetation.  The following lists contain native trees and shrub species acceptable to the Commission when reviewing individual permit applications.

Delaware and Raritan Canal Commission Native Tree List

Delaware and Raritan Canal Commission Native Shrub List

The Commission periodically adopts resolutions at its meetings, which are written motions which may propose action upon any subtantive issue that can normally be proposed as a motion, or to express the sentiments of the Commission on a public policy issue.  It is often preferable to have important or complex motions written out in in the form of a resolution in order to facilitate debate, and allow for the Commission's decisions to be distributed to outside entities.

Resolution No. 2023-01 -- Authorizing authorize the Executive Director to execute a grant agreement with the New Jersey Historic Trust

Resolution No. 2021-08 -- Authorizing Transfer of Monies Deposited in DRCC Mitigation Account #4875-031

Resolution No. 2021-03 -- Commission Engineer Special Project Blanket Approval

Resolution No. 2021-02 -- Authorizing Transfer of Monies Deposited in DRCC Mitigation Account #4875-009 and Repealing Resolution No. 2020-02

Resolution No. 2021-01 -- Authorizing the Vice-Chairman to sign a Memorandum of Agreement regarding certain NJDOT Bridge Projects

Resolution No. 2020-02 -- Concerning DRCC Mitigation Account #4875-009

Resolution No. 2020-01 -- Concerning Commission Staffing

Resolution No. 2019-01 -- Honoring Commissioner Mary Allessio Leck for her distinguished service on the Commission

Resolution No. 2018-01 -- A resolution supporting historic preservation activities in the Borough of Stockton

The Commission’s regulations at N.J.A.C. 7:45-9.5 direct that an applicant whose project intrudes upon a Commission-regulated stream corridor shall take whatever measures are necessary to ensure that the corridor will be preserved and to prevent future encroachments.  Measures to prevent the regrading or removal of native vegetation with stream corridors have included concrete monuments, post-and-rail fences, and “no-mow” signage of various sizes and displaying different content.    

On September 12, 2018, the Commission adopted a motion to adopt a uniform rule for the design and  placement of stream corridor conservation easement signage.  Pursuant to the motion adopted by the Commission, conservation easement signage shall be placed at 250-foot intervals, as well as at the corners of a delineated stream corridor.   The Commission also authorized the Executive Director to revise the placement of the signage on a case-by-case basis in the event the nature of the property or stream corridor warrants.

Conservation Easement Sign Placement

Conservation Easement Sign Design

Locations of Delaware and Raritan Canal Infalls and Drainage Areas located between the Landing Lane Bridge, New Brunswick City, and Amwell Road, Franklin Township (showing waterways draining directly into the canal) 

   Photograph showing the infalls/drainage areas (11x17 print size)

   Inventory List 

Canal Infalls and Drainage Areas located between Bull’s Island Recreation Area, Kingwood Township and to Wilburtha Road, Ewing Township (showing waterways draining directly into the canal) 

    Photograph showing the infalls/drainage areas (8.5 x 11 print size)

Based on the 1937 Indenture agreement, a series of right-of-way maps were developed to serve as the basis for the transfer of the former Delaware and Raritan Canal property to the State of New Jersey by the United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company and the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. (Note: The red, yellow and crosshatching areas should not be assumed to be an accurate depiction of the current boundaries of the Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park.)