EPA finalizes water quality standards for Delaware River section
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a final rule establishing federal water quality standards for 38 miles of the Delaware River between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Wilmington, Delaware.
The rule sets dissolved oxygen criteria to protect aquatic life, including Striped Bass, American Shad and federally endangered Atlantic and Shortnose Sturgeon. EPA said the standards will improve conditions for fish spawning and growth, bolstering both commercial and recreational fisheries in the region.
“By improving water quality in the Delaware River, EPA’s final rule will help protect this vital water resource while supporting fish populations and strengthening economic opportunity for Americans living and working in the mid-Atlantic,” said EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin in a press release.
The Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) supported the move, noting that the new criteria provide an ecological boost and align this portion of the river with existing Clean Water Act standards upstream and downstream.
EPA emphasized that the standards establish aquatic life protection and propagation as a designated use for the river, while allowing the DRBC and member states flexibility to revise criteria in the future.
