NARROWSBURG – Sullivan County District 2 Legislator Nadia Rajsz introduced a successful resolution to fund the collection and publication of flow discharge data from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Delaware River gage at Barryville which was otherwise due to expire on October 1st.

The Upper Delaware Council (UDC) will administer a contract with Sullivan County and the USGS New York Water Science Center to pass through $8,700 that will keep the gage fully functioning through Sept. 30, 2027.

Town of Highland, NY UDC Representative Christine Martin advocated for county assistance to continue the cubic feet per second flow measurements at Gage #01432160.

Sullivan County District 1 Legislator Matt McPhillips and UDC Shohola Township, PA Representative Aaron Robinson had engaged the offices of U.S. Representatives Josh Riley (NY-19) and Rob Bresnahan (PA-8), respectively, to advise that federal funding for the discharge data component was ending on September 30, but the request did not coincide with the cyclical timing and application requirements for the Congressional Appropriations process.

Local and visiting recreationists, commercial outfitters, and environmental agencies use the published data as a resource for decision-making, flood conditions forecasting, and scientific knowledge. It plays an essential role for the region’s tourism-based economy, emergency management planning, and protection of people and property.

The Barryville gage’s location provides vital insight into how the inflow of the Lackawaxen River and releases from lake Wallenpaupack power generation impacts the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River downstream. It’s the only monitoring station between Lackawaxen and Matamoras, PA.

The current gage was installed in 2018, when the USGS selected the Delaware River as the first watershed to implement the Next Generation Water Observing System (NGWOS). This program provides high-fidelity, real-time data on water quantity and quality to support water availability assessments, management, and prediction capabilities.

Streamflow data is recorded at 1 to 30-minute intervals, stored on-site, then transmitted to the USGS office every 15-60 minutes for near-instantaneous availability to the public. Additional monitoring parameters can include temperature, turbidity, nitrates, Dissolved Oxygen, pH, and algal fluorescence.

The USGS originally announced that the discharge data would no longer be collected and reported as of April 1, 2024 due to the reallocation of federal cost-share dollars. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection would continue to subsidize basic river level and temperature data for the gage.

Typically, 36% of a gage’s funding comes from appropriated federal dollars and interagency agreements, while the majority is contributed by partners at the state, county, and local levels.

The National Park Service Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River stepped up to provide stopgap funding for the flow data in Fiscal Years 2025 and 2026 but could not commit payments beyond October 1, 2026 (Fiscal Year 2027).

This information prompted the Upper Delaware Council to issue alerts to agencies and municipalities at the federal, state, county and local levels to seek a long-term solution.

Anyone can access the continuous data for the gage at www.waterdata.usgs.gov/ or by signing up for a free subscription to the USGS Water Alert service at www.accounts.waterdata.usgs.gov/wateralert.