Pennsylvania Renews Delaware River Compact

Susan Phillips

Recent Stories

Susan Phillips tells stories about the consequences of political decisions on people's every day lives. She has worked as a reporter for WHYY since 2004. Susan's coverage of the 2008 Presidential election resulted in a story on the front page of the New York Times. In 2010 she traveled to Haiti to cover the earthquake. That same year she produced an award-winning series on Pennsylvania's natural gas rush called "The Shale Game." She received a 2013 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Journalism Award for her work covering natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania. She has also won several Edward R. Murrow awards for her work with StateImpact. In 2013/14 she spent a year at MIT as a Knight Science Journalism Fellow. She has also been a Metcalf Fellow, an MBL Logan Science Journalism Fellow and reported from Marrakech on the 2016 climate talks as an International Reporting Project Fellow. A graduate of Columbia School of Journalism, she earned her Bachelor's degree in International Relations from George Washington University.

May 31, 2012 | 1:17 PM

Susan Phillips / StateImpactPA

Gaging the water’s flow at Milford, Pa. This tower was built in 1939 to mitigate water wars between New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Making sure the Delaware River’s water gets distributed among the 15 million people who depend on it requires cooperation among four states. Today, Pennsylvania DEP, along with New York, New Jersey, Delaware and New York City, announced the renewal of their commitment to a compact established by a U.S. Supreme Court decree back in 1954.

“This agreement will ensure that the continual and steady flow of water in the Delaware River protects Philadelphia’s water supply from salt water, which can flow in from the Atlantic Ocean,” DEP Secretary Mike Krancer said in a release. “This extension will allow all of the partners to work together this year to find longer-term solutions to the flow issues on the Delaware River.”

In the early part of the 20th century, water wars developed between New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware. The issue twisted its way through the courts and in 1931, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decree governing water withdrawals. In 1954, the court weighed in on a new chapter of the conflict. It set up the post of River Master to oversee water flow, and make sure New York didn’t hoard all the good water.
To learn more about the role of the Delaware River Master, and how the river’s water is distributed among the residents of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware, read our post the history of the water disputes that led to the original court order.