#DayWithoutTheDelaware Highlights Need for Conservation, Protection Across the Delaware River Basin

Where do you fish or canoe? How do you make sure your drinking water is clean? Where do you look for birds?

On Thursday, October 18, organizations across the Delaware River Basin are coming together for a social media day of action — follow along at #DayWithoutTheDelaware. The Day Without the Delaware hopes to highlight all the Delaware River and its tributaries provide for the region.

The Delaware River Basin includes parts of 4 states, more than 13,000 square miles, 42 counties, and 838 municipalities. The river and its basin are priceless resources for recreation, agriculture, and the region’s economy, not to mention that it provides a habitat for birds, fish, and other wildlife.

The Day Without the Delaware is inspired by National Imagine a Day Without Water on October 10. The Day Without Water urges people to think about how they interact and rely on water in their daily lives to foster a deeper commitment to protecting and speaking out for clean, accessible water.

The Day Without the Delaware is an opportunity to share all the ways our communities depend on water from the basin, and why it’s so important to protect it for the future.

Here are 10 things we’d miss without the Delaware River:

1. The Delaware River watershed provides habitats for lots of different species. Endangered species like Atlantic and shortnose sturgeon and the dwarf wedgemussel make there homes here.
2. Land conservation in the Delaware River basin improves wildlife habitat and protects water quality by increasing the amount of land that can filter rain water. That means cleaner, healthier drinking water.
3. Over 15 million people (about 5% of the nation’s population) rely on the waters of the Delaware River Basin. New York City and Philadelphia residents depend on the basin for drinking water.
4. The East Coast has a booming microbrewery scene. Because beer is up to 95% water, even slight changes in Delaware River water quality would have a huge impact on the beer produced here.
5. More than 60% of button mushrooms consumed by American come from 70 farms in Pennsylvania that depend on the Delaware River.
6. The Delaware River and its surrounding waterways are located in the Atlantic Flyway. More than 250 migrating bird species stop here for habitat and food before continuing on their journeys.
7. The Delaware River and its tributaries support 600,000 jobs across Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York.
8. The Delaware River, its creeks and streams attract tourists, fishermen, kayakers, and other sports and recreation enthusiasts.
9. The main stem of the Delaware River is the longest undammed river east of the Mississippi. At 300 miles long, the river stretches from Hancock, New York, to the Delaware Bay.
10. The basin includes one million acres of wetlands, 400 miles of waterways designated under the National Wild and Scenic Rivers program, and 6 National Wildlife Refuges.

What would you miss without the Delaware River Basin? On Thursday, October 18, add your thoughts and ideas via the #DayWithoutTheDelaware hashtag on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, and stay tuned to #4States1Source for more on the Delaware River Watershed.