The Hopewell Township Committee met last Monday, September 16, to discuss and pass a resolution adding several Hopewell Township waterways to the Lower Delaware River Management Plan.
Lower Delaware River Management Plan
The Hopewell Township Committee voted to include the Fiddlers, Jacobs, Moores Creeks as tributaries in the Lower Delaware Wild and Scenic River Management Plan. In preparation for this resolution, the Committee heard a presentation by Robert McEwen, a member of the Delaware Wild and Scenic Committee.
The Wild and Scenic River Management Act was passed by congress in 1968 to protect free-flowing rivers, and the Lower Delaware Wild and Scenic Rivers Act was passed in 2000. The Lower Delaware Wild and Scenic River partnership, based in Stockton, New Jersey, is managed by a council drawn from towns, cities, landowners, and nonprofits with a direct stake in those waterways. Hopewell Township, and its waterways, were included in this partnership from its founding, according to McEwen.
“The idea of the Wild and Scenic is … a partnership… The entities along the river should join in dialogue to work on and fix the problems of the river” and increase “the benefits of the river for all of us,” said McEwen.
These entities include townships, government bodies such as police and fire departments, many nonprofits, and the states of Delaware and New Jersey. “The only place they can come together is through these sorts of small agencies. … All of the land up and down the river is primarily private.”
The partnership exists to help tackle issues such as parking, sanitation, safety, and signage that affect everyone who has a stake in the waterways. The partnership also helps mobilize people to work on environmental preservation concerns, explained McEwen.
One major management goal of the partnership is to improve water quality. Including more tributary creeks, like those in Hopewell Township, will serve that goal, according to McEwen. Local property owners will retain the rights to their land, the Township zoning board will retain authority over local property, and the program is free.
Mayor Courtney Peters-Manning confirmed with McEwen that the Wild and Scenic review program will not be triggered for purely personal projects such as small bridges on private property. According to McEwen, the protections are intended for large projects such as housing developments.
He further explained that it is not intended to stop development altogether: “The reviews are best practices. The National Park Service does not say you cannot do it; they just say your project is not going to help the creek, it’s going to hurt the creek and people downstream.”
Information on the program can be found on their website at https://lowerdelawarewildandscenic.org/.
Events
- September 15 is National Hispanic Heritage Month.
- The Amazing Pumpkin Carve will be held October 9 through 13 and Woolsey Park by the Hopewell Valley Arts Council. For more information see https://hvartscouncil.org/amazingpumpkincarve/.
- Flu clinics will be held October 1 at the Hopewell Township Municipal Building and October 15 at the Pennington Borough Municipal Building. Both clinics will be held from 3-7pm. Registration is encouraged, but walk-ins will be accepted.
