Delaware River Program
The Delaware River Program is dedicated to restoring the fish and wildlife habitats and water quality of the Delaware River and its tributaries. The Delaware River Program currently awards grants through a single competitive funding opportunity—the Delaware Watershed Conservation Fund.
Partners
Delaware Watershed Conservation Fund
The Delaware Watershed Conservation Fund was launched in 2018 to conserve and restore natural areas, corridors and waterways on public and private lands that support native fish, wildlife and plants, and to contribute to the vitality of the communities in the Delaware River watershed. Priority strategies for on-the-ground implementation include sustaining and enhancing fish and wildlife habitat; improving and maintaining water quality for fish, wildlife and people; sustaining and enhancing water management to benefit fish and wildlife; and improving outdoor recreational opportunities within the Delaware River watershed.
DWCF awards grants to projects that address these strategies. Since 2018, the Fund has awarded $72.1 million to 239 projects, which generated $100 million in match, for a total conservation impact of $172.1 million. These projects will collectively restore over 26 miles of riparian habitat and nearly 77 miles of stream habitat, conserve and enhance 1,176 acres of wetland habitat, restore 121 acres of floodplain, improve 32,522 acres of forest habitat and open 6,141 acres for public access.
Major funding for the Delaware Watershed Conservation Fund is provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Delaware River Restoration Fund
The Delaware River Restoration Fund was launched in late 2013 to help community-based nonprofits and government agencies work together to clean up and restore polluted waters and improve habitat for target species, including eastern brook trout and river herring.
The Fund awarded approximately $2 million per year in competitive grants, geographically focused on three priority strategies: (1) stewardship of working lands; (2) restoration of wetlands, floodplains and stream corridors; and (3) promoting the adoption of nature-based solutions in urban/suburban landscapes.
From 2014 to 2023, the Delaware River Restoration Fund awarded 108 grants totaling $19.5 million. These investments leveraged more than $28.9 million in grantee matching funds to fund agriculture conservation, nature-based stormwater solutions and innovative projects to improve the water quality of the Delaware River. The fund implemented nearly 44,000 acres of best management practices to improve water quality, and restored more than 140 acres of wetlands and 60 miles of riparian and instream habitat.
The Delaware River Restoration Fund was administered by NFWF in cooperation with the Delaware River Watershed Initiative, with major funding from the William Penn Foundation.
| DRRF Fact Sheet | Download the PDF | |
| DWCF Fact Sheet | Download the PDF | |
| DWCF 2024 Grant Slate | Download the PDF | |
| 2023 DWCF Grant Slate | Download the PDF | |
| 2022 DRRF Grant Slate | Download the PDF | |
| 2022 DWCF Grant Slate | Download the PDF | |
| USFWS Delaware River 2023 Annual Report | Download the PDF | |
| Delaware River Watershed Business Plan | Download the PDF | |
| DRRF 2021 Grant Slate | Download the PDF | |
| DWCF 2021 Grant Slate | Download the PDF | |
| DRRF 2020 Grant Slate | Download the PDF | |
| DRRF 2019 Grant Slate | Download the PDF | |
| DRRF 2018 Grant Slate | Download the PDF | |
| DRRF 2017 Grant Slate | Download the PDF | |
| DRRF 2016 Grant Slate | Download the PDF | |
| DWCF 2020 Grant Slate | Download the PDF | |
| DWCF 2019 Grant Slate | Download the PDF | |
| DWCF 2018 Grant Slate | Download the PDF | |
| Survey of Delaware River Watershed Initiative | Download the PDF |
Director, Delaware River Program
Manager, Delaware River Program
Regional Program Coordinator
Related Species
American horseshoe crab
The American horseshoe crab plays an integral ecological role, particularly in the Delaware Bay where hundreds of thousands of shorebirds rely on horseshoe crab eggs to build energy reserves for their northward migration. Contrary to their name, horseshoe crabs are in fact not crabs at all. They are arthropods, making them more closely related to spiders and scorpions.
River herring
Alewife and blueback herring—collectively known as river herring—are diadromous fishes that spend most of their lives at sea but return to river and streams to spawn. Once abundant throughout the Atlantic seaboard, river herring populations have declined due to overfishing and habitat loss associated with the construction of dams. Recent conservation efforts have seen millions of river herring return to streams throughout New England, a promising sign not just for river herring, but also myriad other species that rely on them as an important food source.
Eastern hardwood forest birds
Eastern deciduous forests provide important habitat for forest birds, which can reside in them year-round, or rely on them as breeding grounds or stop-over sited during migration. Deciduous forests have been subject to fragmentation, putting the wide variety of bird species they support at risk.
American shad
The American shad is an anadromous fish that can be found in rivers and coastal waters along the entire Atlantic coast. Once supporting a large commercial fishery, shad have declined in abundance following decades of overfishing and the construction of dams along migration routes, which reduces access to spawning habitat.
Blue crab
With their distinctive bright blue claws, blue crabs are one of the most iconic species of the Chesapeake Bay, where an estimated 594 million were found in 2019. These bottom-dwelling omnivores have a very wide geographic distribution that supports an important blue crab fishery in the Gulf Coast.
Eastern oyster
Eastern oysters have played a particularly prominent role in the culture, history, and economy of the Chesapeake Bay and other areas throughout the Gulf and Atlantic Coasts. Reefs serve as important habitat for a variety of aquatic species. However, overharvesting, disease and declines in estuarine and bottom habitats have ravaged native oyster populations. Eastern oysters now represent less than 2 percent of their peak historical populations.
Bay-breasted warbler
Bay-breasted warblers nest in spruce and fir forests across Canada, and can be found in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and the Adirondack Park of New York. While they occupy similar habitats as Cape May and blackpoll warblers, bay-breasted warblers in particular forage at the inner mid-level, and nest in the lower third-level, of trees.
Wood thrush
A well-known inhabitant of eastern deciduous forests, the wood thrush is known for its flute-like song during the mating season. Wood thrush are excellent indicators of moist, mature forests with structurally complex mid and understories. Habitat loss and degraded habitat quality on both breeding and wintering grounds have resulted in population declines since at least 1970.
Red knot
The red knot is a shorebird known for long-distance migrations, with some populations traveling from Argentina to the Arctic every year. Stopover areas providing high-quality foraging habitat are critically important for the red knot. For example, large numbers of red knots arrive in Delaware Bay during their spring migration to feed upon horseshoe crab eggs, which provide an excellent source of energy that fuels completion of the northward migration and contributes to successful reproduction.
Golden-winged warbler
The golden-winged warbler is a striking, neotropical songbird with bright yellow plumage on the crown and wings. Their breeding range formerly extended across the Midwest to the east, but is now restricted to two isolated subpopulations: one in the higher-elevation areas of the Appalachians and the other around the Great Lakes into Manitoba. Loss of early succesional has resulted in population declines especially for the eastern population.
Brook trout
Brook trout are the only trout native to the eastern United States and inhabit coldwater rivers and lakes. Sensitive to even small declines in water quality and increases in sedimentation, brook trout can serve as excellent indicators of the health of a stream or river ecosystem.
Cerulean warbler
The cerulean warbler is a small, migrant songbird named for the male's sky-blue plumage. It is dependent on contiguous tracts of mature, deciduous forest habitat throughout its breeding range in the eastern United States, and is particularly sensitive to the negative effects of forest fragmentation which has contributed to widespread population declines.
American oystercatcher
The American oystercatcher is a stocky shorebird who is characterized as a short-distance migrant whose movements are confined to the United States and adjacent Caribbean islands. The oystercatcher wades in shallow water and uses its powerful bill to pry open and feed on mollusks, so protecting and restoring near-shore feeding grounds are critical for this species.
American black duck
The American black duck is large dabbling duck that resembles the closely related mallard, but is darker in appearance and much less common. Black ducks nest in wetlands throughout the Eastern Seaboard, including freshwater and salt marshes where restoration and protection are vitally important to maintaining black duck populations.
