Providing ecologically‐based goals for river flow management in the Delaware River basin – including the Lehigh River and its tributaries – is a priority for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, The Nature Conservancy, and other federal and state partners.

Beginning in 2011, with funding from the Delaware River Basin Commission, the Conservancy led an 18‐month process to set basin‐wide ecosystem flow recommendations that can be implemented within the non‐tidal riverine habitats of the Delaware River basin. The Delaware basin ecological flow study followed the general approach of other large basin‐scale projects that the Conservancy led on the Susquehanna, Upper Ohio and Great Lakes basins. The project addressed headwaters, tributaries, and large river habitats in the basin, with emphasis on tributaries that are or could be affected by water withdrawals.

The USACE Philadelphia District indicated that they were interested in additional analyses and more detailed information for river reaches affected by reservoir storage and releases for flood control, recreation, fish and wildlife. and other purposes. The Conservancy and the District entered into a Cooperative Agreement on September 19th of 2016 to conduct a more detailed assessment on the influence of the District’s reservoir operations in the Lehigh River watershed, a major tributary to the Delaware River.