Reenactors crossing the Delaware River on Christmas Day in 2016.
Credit: Joseph Kaczmarek/NewtownPANow.com
Is the Delaware River the top in Pennsylvania?
The 2019 Pennsylvania River of the Year contest is once again allowing the public to decide.
This year, the 419-mile-long waterway that touches Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania is in the running. It carries pleasure boaters, commercial ships, drinking water, and wildlife and has been nominated along with the Clarion River, Conodoguinet Creek (but it’s really a river), and Lackawanna River.
“This annual undertaking is much more than a public vote gauging popularity of a Pennsylvania waterway,” said Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn. “Regardless of outcome, the competition builds community support around our rivers and streams, putting them in the public limelight. All have unique attributes; offer incredible recreational opportunities; and offer significant boosts to local economies.”
“Nominations consider each waterway’s conservation needs and successes, as well as celebration plans if the nominee becomes 2019 River of the Year. In cooperation with DCNR, selection of public voting choices is overseen by the Pennsylvania Organization for Watersheds and Rivers (POWR), an affiliate of the Pennsylvania Environmental Council,” officials said.
The contest started in 1983 and the 2018 winner was the 64-mile-long Loyalsock Creek (really a river) in the central part of the state.
The winning river will be celebrated with events and activities throughout 2019.
“We are excited to kick-off, for the ninth year, the public on-line voting process for Pennsylvania River of the Year,” POWR Director Janet Sweeney said.
Voting ends at 5 p.m. on January 4.
