Our Shared Waters: A Look at the Delaware River Basin is a DRBC-managed public outreach effort of multiple Delaware River Basin stakeholder groups, including non-profits, businesses and government organizations.

Program Goals

  • Educate the public and decisionmakers about the current state of the Basin and its critical role in supporting clean, healthy water for drinking and other everyday needs, as well as about the opportunities available to play a role in its continued sustainability.

  • Connect people to their local waterways, to one another and with the bigger picture – we're all a part of the Delaware River Basin.

  • Uplift the voices of our publics, stakeholders and partners who have a shared interest in protecting our water resources.

  • Share information, connect with and learn about what partner organizations are doing in the Basin.

  • Inform about DRBC public input opportunities

Through education, outreach, information sharing, recreation and experiential learning, the millions of people who depend on the waters of the Delaware River Basin will have a better understanding of its importance and how they too can play a part in protecting its waters – our shared waters – for current and future generations.

Program Background

As DRBC was putting the finishing touches on its 2019 State of the Basin Report, we realized that, in addition to sharing the Commission's view of the state of the Basin, we also wanted to create a comprehensive overview of the Basin’s waters by including inputs from a wide range of stakeholders, including public and private water purveyors, NGOs, non-profits and residents. 

Further, we wanted to create a broad outreach campaign - encompassing an online/digital presence, community event participation, and experiential opportunities for Basin residents - to share information about the Basin's waters, as well as help our partners spread the word about their organizations, upcoming events and activities to a Basin-wide audience. 

DRBC submitted an application to the William Penn Foundation (WPF) to support this effort, which was granted in early 2019. WPF funded the program through June 2023.

Today, the program is the DRBC's outreach and community engagement arm, bringing together a partnership of agencies, organizations and businesses all working towards clean, sustainable, secure and shared water resources. The OSW Facebook page and website remain active, and new partners continue to join. Learn more below.

Learn More about Our Shared Waters (OSW)

• Our Shared Waters (OSW) Website
  
  
• OSW Partners
  
  
• OSW Quarterly Updates for Partners
  
  
• OSW Blogs
  
  
• OSW on Facebook
  
  
• OSW Flyer (pdf)
  
  
• OSW Activities Archive

Interested in Joining Our Shared Waters?

• Email Beth Brown at elizabeth.brown@drbc.gov

DRBC staff hold representative boxes of donated items to give to the representatives of three local food pantries (also pictured). Photo by the DRBC.

Our Shared Waters Blogs

  • In 2024, the Our Shared Waters blog series continued. Visit the link to read what OSW partners are up to!

Virtual and In-Person Partner Events

Staff enjoys connecting with Basin community members, whether in-person or virtual, to teach about our watershed. We also love to engage with partners old and new.

  • Stay tuned to our Newsbytes section to see what we've been up to!

Partner Newsletter

In 2024, DRBC started a quarterly newsletter for OSW partners. The newsletter provides updates on DRBC news, public comment opportunities and events, as well as shares information for and from OSW partners.

  • Check out the Quarterly Partner Updates

Upper Delaware Food Drive & Film Screening

DRBC and its Upper Delaware OSW partners hosted a food drive this spring, benefiting three pantries serving Upper Delaware communities. Donations were distributed at DRBC's June Business Meeting, which was held in Narrowsburg, N.Y. After the meeting, there was a screening of the short film Our Shared Waters: A Flight Along the Delaware and panel discussion about the Upper Delaware, moderated by Meg McGuire, Delaware Currents.

  • Get more details about the food drive and film screening

Trenton Community Day

In October 2024, the DRBC was honored to welcome U.S. Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12) and other distinguished guests to DRBC's office to celebrate the Commission receiving federal Community Project Funding (CPF), in the amount of $715,000, for federal fiscal year 2024. The event also included the first Trenton Community Day, which brought together regional partners to network, hear about available funding opportunities from the Representative's staff and learn from each other about the ways folks are working toward more inclusive and climate-resilient communities. The roundtable highlighted existing collaborations and, hopefully, fostered the creation of new ones.

• Learn more about the CPF press event and Trenton Community Day

Outreach Events

This year, staff participated in the following events:

• Lambertville, N.J. Shad Festival
• GreenPhilly's EcoFair
• TTF's Birds of a Feather
• HydroMania
• Chester River Festival
• Festival of the Founding Fish: Upper Delaware Shad Festival
• DRBA's World Environment Day
• Trenton Youth Fishing Derby
• RiverFront North Fish Fest
• Trenton's Juneteenth Celebration
• Trenton River Days
• Delaware River Festival