UPPER DELAWARE RIVER, NY — On Election Day 2022, New York voters have a rare opportunity to vote on a ballot initiative that would create a substantial and long-term investment in protecting and restoring New York’s environmental quality, while creating an estimated 100,000 new jobs throughout the state.

The New York State Clean Air, Clean Water and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act will appear on the back of the November 8 ballot—make sure you flip it over when voting.

If approved, the act will generate $4.2 billion in statewide funding to support conservation projects that will benefit people, communities, local economies and environmental quality.

For the Upper Delaware River region, the timing of the act couldn’t be better. The funding categories in the proposed bond act strikingly match the most urgent economic and natural-resource needs of the watershed: 

• Repairing and replacing aging water and wastewater infrastructure
• Preserving New York State farms and farmland
• Building community resiliency in the face of changing weather patterns 
• Creating local jobs to implement on-the-ground conservation projects 
• Enhancing community parks and outdoor recreational opportunities
• Addressing the economic/environmental inequities of the Upper Delaware region 

Since 2017, local and regional Upper Delaware River conservation organizations, municipalities and outdoor recreational groups have generated almost $5 million in funding from the federal Delaware River Basin Restoration Program (DRBRP) for projects that provide multiple community and environmental benefits.

Building on the DRBRP federal investment, in April of 2022 Friends of the Upper Delaware River (FUDR), in collaboration with diverse coalition partners, achieved a historic victory by securing a new line item for the Upper Delaware River in the New York State Environmental Protection Fund (EPF). For the first time, our river now has a permanent source of institutionalized state funding to help ensure the future protection and restoration of the watershed.

The passage of the Environmental Bond Act in November could supercharge the DRBRP and EPF investments in the Upper Delaware River. It would help elevate the public and political profile of our watershed, placing it where it deserves to be, as one of New York’s most iconic waterbodies. 

We urge all New York voters who love the Upper Delaware River watershed to learn more about the 2022 New York State Environmental Bond Act, and how it can provide meaningful economic and environmental benefits to the people, communities and natural resources of our region.

Find more information about the bond act at https://voteyescleanwaterandjobs.com/.

Jeff Skelding is the executive director of Friends of the Upper Delaware River, a community-based watershed-protection organization located in Hancock, NY. It is the state’s lead organization for the Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed.