Delaware River Named 2020 River of the Year for Its Environmental Turnaround

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The Delaware River, pictured from Subaru Park in Chester.

The Delaware River can proudly call itself the 2020 River of the Year, as named by American Rivers, a national organization that protects U.S. rivers, writes Michael Tanenbaum for Phillyvoice.com.

American Rivers releases an annual report describing how America’s major rivers are doing.

The Delaware was recognized for a dramatic turnaround in the last 75 years.

The Delaware River flows nearly 400 miles and drains more than 14,000 square miles of land in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland.

Industrial pollution created dead zones in the river by the mid-20th Century.

“The river’s water was so foul that it would turn the paint of ships brown as they traveled through or were docked for any period of time,” the Delaware River Basin Commission, once wrote of the river.

Enforcement of clean water safeguards and careful multi-state stewardship restored the river.

Atlantic sturgeon, striped rock bass, white perch and American shad all returned to the river.

“Today, thanks to a combination of federal and state regulations and local innovation, the Delaware is a river reborn — and a model for other river restoration efforts across the country,” the report says.

Read more about this honor bestowed on the Delaware River here.

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