For Immediate Release

March 5, 2019

(West Trenton, N.J.) -- The Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) today announced that Bridget Davis’ photograph, titled Polar Vortex Beauty, was chosen as the winner of the commission’s Winter 2018-2019 Photo Contest. Forty photographs were submitted by 14 individuals for the contest.

"I always have my camera with me and enjoy photographing the amazing wildlife and beautiful scenery of this area along the West Branch Delaware River," said Bridget Davis of Deposit, N.Y. "The recent polar vortex made for some fantastic photographs; I felt sorry for the geese, but they didn’t appear to mind the cold."

For this season’s contest, DRBC invited Carl LaVO, author, journalist, and former Bucks County Courier Times Editor, to join our internal judging team as a guest judge. "Bridget’s photo has great composition and balance, as well as a haunting quality," said LaVO. "I love the wintery landscape encrusted in ice and an impenetrable mist; it's also great to showcase the far upper reaches of the river basin."

The winning image will be featured on the commission’s website at https://www.nj.gov/drbc/basin/photo/photo-contest.html and on DRBC’s Twitter, Instagram, and Flickr social media sites. The photo will also be published in the commission’s 2019 annual report, and the winner will receive a certificate of recognition.

In addition to holding the public seasonal photo contests, DRBC also holds an internal contest for staff. The judging team chose Water Resource Scientist Evan Kwityn’s photo Frozen Stemware on the Flat Brook as the winner. "Talk about being at the right place at the right time with camera in hand," said LaVO. "Evan caught a unique ice drip from a branch, seemingly stemware hung to dry over the stream; eye catching perfection."

The commission thanks everyone who submitted photos this season. The contest’s purpose is to highlight amateur and professional photography representing the beauty, diversity, function, and significance of the water resources of the Delaware River Basin, a 13,539-square mile watershed. Approximately 15 million people (or about five percent of the nation's population) rely on the water resources of the Delaware River Basin to support a variety of significant uses including public drinking water, industry, agriculture, power generation, recreation, fisheries, and aquatic life.

The Spring Photo Contest will begin on March 20 and has a deadline of May 15, 2019. Complete contest details, including instructions on how to submit photographs, are available on DRBC’s website at the above link.

The DRBC is a federal/interstate government agency responsible for managing the water resources within the Delaware River Basin without regard to political boundaries. The five commission members are the governors of the basin states (Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania) and the commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ North Atlantic Division, who represents the federal government.

To learn more about the commission, please visit www.drbc.gov or follow DRBC on Twitter at @DRBC1961.

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Contacts: Kate Schmidt, Kate.Schmidt@drbc.gov, (609) 883-9500 ext. 205
Peter Eschbach, Peter.Eschbach@drbc.gov, (609) 883-9500 ext. 208

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Winning Image for the Public Contest: Polar Vortex Beauty by Bridget Davis

Winning Image for DRBC’s Staff Contest: Frozen Stemware on the Flat Brook by Evan Kwityn