Letter to The Editor at the Philadelphia Inquirer, April 20, 2011

The Delaware Canal Conundrum at New Hope
What Jack Donahue, president of Friends of The Delaware Canal, along with the other members of his organization, and Rick Dalton of the DCNR all fail to take into account is that it is truly a godsend that they did not voluntarily pour water into the canal in the month of March, nor in this month of April, nor will they for the rest of the summer of 2011. A small but slowly evolving enclave of local residents along the Delaware Canal called the Delaware Canal Anti-Annihilation League or D-CAAL will attempt their best to prevent the haphazard and irresponsible refilling of the canal year after year until it is once and for all repaired properly and ceases to be a killing-zone for the local fauna that inhabit it. For years now the DCNR has been ordered by the "Friends" to refill the dry bed for the sake of tourism and hence appearances.  Water is deviated from the Delaware River through the locks bringing with it thousands of animals: many species of fish and turtles, mussels, snails, eels and snakes.  By fall each year they are left writhing in wet mud until they die as all of the water drains out again from the canal. This canal is a national landmark. It is a shambles and a travesty and while it ought to be given high priority as a protected habitat for regional fauna and flora, it never is. The other solution is to never refill it  again if it cannot for the first time, since the running of the mule barges,  be competently repaired.  Shame on those who think only of commerce at the expense of these silent, innocent creatures.

The Crux of The Problem Is Manyfold and Far More Complex Than You Know...

There is a broken old pump that sits below and to the eastern side of the bridge at Center Bridge and it has been broken beyond repair since the floods of 2004-06. Nonetheless, since that time, it has been sent out on numerous occasions for repair. When it runs it works off of a 220V current but what is really required is a 440V pump. In other words the pump in place was basically to weak and inexpensive from the start. On top of this it is haphazardly wired. A new pump will cost the State approximately $20,000 (tax money). On top of this cost is the fee to run it, gauged at a monthly figure of $1,200 from now to eternity with a yearly increase based on inflation. The PA Bureau of State Parks has suffered severe budget cuts over the past 3-4 years. Forty million dollars was put into the canal by FEMA, millions more by the State. Where did this money go?

It so happens that at the same time there were very serious leaks at Mechanic Street in New Hope due to seepage through the canal walls. Supposedly three of the businesses there have had water leaching into their basements during the past few trials of filling the canal. As of this winter, these walls were repointed by DCNR staff. Another place in the New Hope branch of the canal that leaks is on North Main Street by Rabbit Run Bridge. Residents there complained a great deal for years. The portion of the canal from around the boyscout camp at Bridge #2 all the way down to Lumberville is filled with innumerable leaks that have never been properly fixed. The State and its engineers, the park supervisors and The Friends of The Delaware Canal always hire the lowest bidder to do the work, (unless the DCNR does the work themselves with an insufficient task force,) and the lowest bidder never completes the reparations in a competent manner. They just want to get the show on the road, so everything looks copesetic, with no consideration for the wildlife that inhabits it.

The canal runs naturally southward from Easton but there has always been a pump since 1832 at Center Bridge. Even if it were to be replaced with the $20,000 “superior” model, is still shut off in wintertime because it cannot withstand the icey water and small icebergs that form on the edges of the Delaware River. Once it is shut off the water becomes shallower and shallower, and then there is so little water that all that remains are small pools of water with thousands of fish attempting to stay alive in them. The other animals either dry up or, as in the case of the turtles:

Most water turtles go deep into the pond and snuggle down into some mud and leaves at the bottom. Then they let themselves get cold. Their bodies slow down so they don't need to eat anymore. Their hearts slow down too so that they beat only once every few minutes. They stop breathing through their lungs. Because their bodies are running at such a slow speed, they don't need much oxygen, but they do need some. They can get the small amount of oxygen they need from the water. It sinks in through some specialized skin cells that are just inside the tail opening. That's right! They "breathe" through their tails! Water turtles can stay like this for two or three months. (How Turtles Hibernate Throughout The Winter; http://www.turtlepuddle.org/kidspage/hibernation.html)

Even if they could live through the winter, just like the giant snails that live around here, (half the size of a tennis ball), and who are able to withstand many months out of water,  under the steaming Pennsylvanian summer sun, and prolonged temperatures of 85-105 degrees, they die within a week. Many of the snakes and the turtles could potentially climb out of the dry bed and emigrate to the Delaware River which is within reach in many spots, but unfortunately River Road in the way, and they are killed by vehicles. People walking the free bridge from Lambertville to New Hope in summer stop to admire and smile at how the turtles congregate to sun themselves up on the footings of the piers. Those are the same creatures that get swept to their death every year only one hundred feet away on the PA side of the river.

The Three Foot Limit

There is now in place a three foot height limit to the filling of the water in the canal. This is because if this height is exceeded the water will leak tremendously. But only above three feet will the fish and other inhabitants remain alive in winter. Fish naturally can remain in a type of suspended animation in their hibernation throughout a winter in cold water. But the water must be over three feet of water to prevent a deep freezing. If the water is three feet or under three feet all of the inhabitants will die. So they'd be killed, even if we there were to be some water in this portion of the canal, because the leaks were never fixed and the water would be too shallow.