HAWLEY, PA — When the next document to govern flows from New York City’s Delaware Basin Reservoir System is unveiled on June 1, “expect it to look much the same as 2015,” Delaware River Master Robert Mason Jr. told a crowd of 130 who had largely turned out to advocate for meaningful changes.

The Delaware River Basin Commission’s (DRBC) Regulated Flows Advisory Committee (RFAC) met April 5 in the same Lake Wallenpaupack Environmental Learning Center upper basin location where they last convened on December. 3, 2015, but with a significant difference that had been the source of complaints four months ago.

The committee’s environmental agency staff members brought to the table four out of the five 1954 U.S. Supreme Decree Party Principals who are responsible for negotiating terms of the Flexible Flows Management Plan (FFMP). Any revisions to that regime require unanimous consent from the four basin states of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware, and the City of New York.

With all Decree Parties represented except for the State of New York, whose principal, Mark Klotz, was reportedly ill, DRBC Executive Director Steve Tambini set ground rules for the scheduled three-and-a-half hour meeting.

“This is not a public hearing on the FFMP or Decree Party matters. It is not a negotiating session. It is not necessarily a model for future committee meetings,” he said to conclude his overview of the roles of various entities in managing the often competing water resource interests in the river basin.

Mid-way between three presentations and a public comment period dubbed as a "listening session" with the Decree Party Principals, the Delaware River Master, who is based at the USGS office in Reston, VA gave an update on where the negotiations stand “as talks for the 2016 agreement are nearing an end.”

Mason reported that the Decree Parties “have met 19 times in the last 18 months” to prepare for the current FFMP’s expiration on May 31, but said to expect no significant amendments to the plan, which has been extended on an interim basis every year since 2011.

He attributed the decision-makers’ inability to agree on any major plan revisions to “differences of opinions and priorities since they represent different constituencies. I can tell you they listen.”

The Delaware Watershed Conservation Coalition, represented by Jeff Skelding from Friends of the Upper Delaware River and Garth Pettinger from Trout Unlimited, said with some frustration that “our wish list of what we’d like to see in the new plan hasn’t changed much because neither has the plan.”

The core of their 2016 “Fair Share Request” urges immediate adoption of three interim procedures to address aquatic habitat concerns in the Upper Delaware River, specifically by providing mechanisms for thermal stress relief during high-water-temperature events, gradual ramp-downs of directed releases, and a more equitable distribution of water releases from the Cannonsville, Pepacton and Neversink reservoirs.

Skelding displayed a graph depicting how the water flow in the West Branch of the Delaware River took a nosedive from about 750 cubic feet per second to 100 cfs in one 24-hour period, which ironically occurred on the opening day of trout season in New York State.

“When we talk about yo-yo impacts, this happened in the normal course of an FFMP release. None of us can understand how this possibly happened,” he said.

Pettinger acknowledged the challenge of obtaining unanimity among the parties, but said that the effect of this negotiation deadlock is causing “preventable damage to the region’s ecology and economy.”

Eldred resident Dr. Peter Kolesar of the Columbia University Water Center suggested that the interim proposals are statistically calibrated, conservative, and put no entities at risk.

“We have a system that needs to improve and people who can’t agree on a structure to do it. It’s just stupid and everyone in this room knows it. You haven’t refuted our analyses but have either rejected or ignored our proposals. How do you justify not acting on it?” he shouted.

Matt Batchelet, representing the 60-member Upper Delaware River Business Coalition, said that the local economy which had been on a downward trend for 25 years, has made great strides thanks to the robust tourism trade attracted by the river’s resources.

“Everyone wins when the water gets supplied. The businesses that operate below the reservoirs depend on April, May and June for in excess of 50% of their annual revenue. You may not realize that. Those losses are never recovered,” he said.

Among the 21 registered speakers, who were given approximately three minutes each for public comments, was Diane Tharp, who serves as the Reservoir Management Liaison on Congressman Chris Gibson’s Watershed Advisory Group.

She read a letter from Rep. Gibson, who is the New York Co-chair of the Delaware River Basin Congressional Task Force, in which he said, “We cannot achieve any of what we desire if we are not willing to negotiate and, at times, compromise on aspects of the FFMP, even those that we hold fundamentally critical to our unique positions. In the end, it is in all of our best interests to look at the system and the negotiations in their entirety rather than a patchwork of specific positions and issues.”

When it was time for the Decree Party Principals to speak, Daniel Kennedy of New Jersey said, “I came here from a perspective that I believe everybody can win. I take no personal pride in being perceived as part of the problem,” while re-emphasizing New Jersey’s position that “we’re not interested in negotiating niche, small solutions.”

Kelly Heffner of Pennsylvania explained the political reality that proposals that may have been circulating for years must be re-evaluated when a new administration takes over.

“This is hard for us, too. Thank you for the reminder that we need to do better,” she added.

Paul Rush stated that his job is to look out for the New York City consumers, since it’s those ratepayers who ultimately subsidize his salary.

“The best quality water in the New York City system comes from the Delaware. It is a preferential source of supply. Are we willing to take a look at improving the system? Absolutely,” he said.