TUSTEN, NY — Members of the Upper Delaware Council (UDC) are touring their towns to re-introduce themselves, explain what the organization does and why it’s important.

In May, Tusten delegate Evan Padua and UDC resources and land use specialist Kerry Engelhardt visited the Tusten town board for a question-and-answer session.

Q: What is the UDC?

A: The UDC works to protect the ecology of the river valley while considering the needs of private property owners. The group uses a river management plan to assess proposed new land uses for its member towns in the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River area (see sidebar). Padua asked residents to send questions or any river issue they’d like to UDC to discuss to his email at evanstreetwater@gmail.com.

Q: How does the UDC serve the public?

A: Engelhardt said the UDC reviews all significant projects in the river corridor. It then votes on whether the project conforms with accepted land uses and the river management plan. The National Park Service (NPS) makes the final decision. Members of the public are welcome to attend council meetings.

Q: What makes the UDC distinctive?

A: Lindsey Kurnath, the Upper Delaware superintendent, explained its cooperative management mission with New York, Pennsylvania, and the individual towns along the river. Most of the 15,000-plus acres in the corridor are privately owned but are protected according to guidelines from the U.S. Department of the Interior. “That’s why we are here, to collectively protect the river,” Kurnath said. The NPS does not own the river but is responsible for protecting it.

Q: What are the biggest risks to the river in the coming years?

A: Engelhardt answered the question posed by town board member Kevin McDonough: “Development is probably inevitable, so our goal is that it is done responsibly and in the right places.” Padua added, “A lot of rivers in Pennsylvania in particular have increased sedimentation from unpermitted construction, essentially. It may be bulldozers, it might be who knows what it is, but less room for fish eggs, bug eggs, and a filtration system for our river.” He said the UDC’s permitting process “helps keep that sedimentation down, at least in our corridor. Unfortunately, [UDC] does not oversee tributaries that lead into our river, where we do see a fair amount of sediment coming in.”

Padua said his priority is educating the public about development in waterways.