For Immediate Release

February 10, 2021

(West Trenton, N.J.) -- The Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) today announced that New Jersey Governor Philip D. Murphy will kick off the Advisory Committee on Climate Change (ACCC) Forum on Climate Change and the Delaware River Basin with a prerecorded message on March 2, 2021. Gov. Murphy serves as a DRBC Commissioner and has been an active leader in the study and planning for dealing with climate change in the region. The forum will occur on the second day of the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary’s (PDE) biennial Science and Environmental Summit, which takes place online from March 1 to 3, 2021.

NASA scientist Benjamin Hamlington, Ph.D., who leads NASA’s Sea Level Change Science Team at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, will follow Gov. Murphy to provide the forum’s keynote presentation.

Providing a local perspective, Philadelphia NBC10 Meteorologist Glenn “Hurricane” Schwartz will discuss climate change impacts on rain, snow and flooding in the Basin.

In addition to Gov. Murphy, Dr. Hamlington and “Hurricane” Schwartz, the one-day forum will feature speakers from Rutgers University, The Water Center at Penn, Shippensburg University, Columbia University, USGS, PDE and DRBC.

"We are honored to have Gov. Murphy start off the day on this important topic," said DRBC Executive Director Steve Tambini. "At DRBC, we are committed to using science to manage the water resources of the Delaware River Basin. New Jersey and the Basin have seen the increasingly mild winters, heavier rainfall events, flooding along inland streams and more tidal flooding. Gov. Murphy understands the connection between science, climate change, the water cycle and the region’s economic health."

Those interested in attending the event may register at pdesummit2021.eventbrite.com.

The DRBC is offering educators a chance to attend the entire Science and Environmental Summit, including the Climate Forum, for free.  If interested in this virtual learning opportunity, please visit https://www.nj.gov/drbc/home/spotlight/approved/20210128_ClimateForum_atPDE-Summit.html for more information.

DRBC’s ACCC is comprised of up 18 individuals with relevant climate expertise, representing various government, watershed, academic, business and water user perspectives. It is focused on science-based information for identifying and prioritizing climate threats to the Delaware River Basin, including salinity impacts from sea level rise and changes in the seasonality and volume of stream flows, as well as providing recommendations for mitigation, adaptation and improved resiliency. More info on the ACCC can be found at https://www.state.nj.us/drbc/about/advisory/ACCC_index.html

The Partnership for the Delaware Estuary, host of the Delaware Estuary Program, leads science-based and collaborative efforts to improve the tidal Delaware River and Bay, which spans Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

The DRBC is an interstate-federal government agency created in 1961 by concurrent compact legislation, marking the first time that the federal government and a group of states joined together as equal partners in a river basin planning, development and regulatory agency. 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: Peter Eschbach, Peter.Eschbach@drbc.gov

Kate Schmidt, Kate.Schmidt@drbc.gov

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