Delaware Canal 21: Flagship Project

a financially sustainable canal

In preparing the Delaware Canal Vision Study, we engaged the public who resoundingly confirmed the desire for a fully-watered canal. And it is no secret that the maintenance budget provided the State via the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the State Park system is simply not adequate, leaving sections of the canal to frequently run dry.

This is not a simple matter of asking the State to allocate more resources to this park. The Delaware Canal State Park is already the most expensive of Pennsylvania’s 121 state parks, with an annual budget that is approximately 4X that of the average PA state park.

For over 100 years, the canal operated as public-private commercial asset providing the utility of transportation. The economic benefit provided by the canal directly generated the funds required to proactively maintain it - even in the midst of floods, and with less sophisticated technology than what is available today.

potential solution: Delaware Canal Waterway Authority

Across the Atlantic Ocean, we have observed how Scottish Canals not only revitalized a canal system that was in far worse condition than our own, but reinvigorate the surrounding communities and made it into a world-class destination.

Across the Delaware River in New Jersey, there is a canal of the same length and age that is similarly available to public as a state park. The Delaware & Raritan Canal is well-maintained and is always full of water. But it doesn’t rely solely on state park funding to achieve this feat. That canal is financially sustainable because it generates significant revenue by providing drinking water to several municipalities.

With these successful stories in mind, Delaware Canal 21 is working together with Pennsylvania and the two counties of Bucks and Northampton to reimagine the business model of the Delaware Canal. Although the mix of revenue-generating opportunities might be different for our canal, we want to explore the feasibility of establishing a revenue generating partner organization such as the Waterway Authority responsible for achieving New Jersey’s Delaware & Raritan Canal’s financial sustainability.

Feasibility Study

Pennsylvania and the two counties of Bucks and Northampton have agreed to conduct a Feasibility Study to assess the viability of a partner organization that will be responsible for providing all needed water for the purposes of consistency and continuity of optimal volume in the canal.

The Feasibility Study will consider existing conditions for canal watering as well as alternate options to be determined through future study. The partner organization may take the form of a bi-county municipal authority or some other form depending on the recommendations of the Feasibility Study. This new organization would be charged with raising substantial new revenues to improve annual maintenance, including preventive and predictive maintenance; developing and implementing efficient and up to date water management plans for the Delaware Canal; and planning, funding, and implementing needed capital improvements and/or replacements along the Delaware Canal.

The Feasibility Study will assess partner organization's capacity in two fundamental ways:

  1. capacity to provide optimal down canal water flows during retention projects, such as diversions around dewatered project sites.

  2. capacity to generate new revenues for the complementary purposes of water retention projects and the operational demands associated with the canal watering operations.

potential new revenue sources

The Feasibility Study will consider options for potential supplemental revenue sources, including but not limited to the list below.

  • Low head hydro generation

  • Utility easement fees

  • Storm water management fees

  • Concessions and business opportunities

  • Potential sale of water to City of Philadelphia and/or others

  • Air rights fees

  • Impact fees

  • Mitigation fees

  • Modest special services assessments

  • Charitable donations from foundations, corporations, or individuals

  • Other potential revenue sources that surface in the course of the Feasibility Study