EPA approves long-awaited protections for endangered fish in the Delaware River

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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency this week finalized new water quality standards that aim to protect the federally endangered Atlantic sturgeon, as well as other fish in a portion of the Delaware River.

The announcement comes more than a year after the protections were first proposed, and after environmentalists took legal action to speed up the process. The new rule is a welcome surprise to some advocates as President Donald Trump’s administration rolls back Biden-era environmental protections.

Some fish traveling the river between Philadelphia, South Jersey and Wilmington struggle to survive and thrive due to low dissolved oxygen levels caused by ammonia discharges from wastewater facilities.

This urban stretch of the Delaware River is the only section of the region’s waterways that were not fully protective of aquatic life, according to the EPA, and oxygen level criteria did not meet Clean Water Act standards.

“Clean and safe water is a key component of ‘Powering the Great American Comeback,’” said EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin in a statement. “It supports healthy children and adults, and it powers American manufacturing and commerce, including commercial fishing and recreation economies.”

Environmental groups and scientists have called for improved fish protections in the Delaware River for more than a decade, voicing concerns about the federally endangered Atlantic sturgeon. These monumental fish that predate the dinosaurs once thrived in the Philadelphia region, but are now threatened by habitat loss, dams, vessel strikes and poor water quality.

The EPA said the new standards, which have not been updated in 50 years, will improve water quality to support the reproduction and growth of sturgeon, striped bass and shad. In turn, the new rules will bolster commercial and recreational fishing, the agency said.

“By improving water quality in the Delaware River, EPA’s final rule will help protect this vital water resource while supporting fish populations and strengthening economic opportunity for Americans living and working in the mid-Atlantic,” Zeldin said.

The new standards determine the levels of oxygen fish need in order to flourish along 38 miles of the Delaware River, and update protections for fish of all life phases, including fertilized eggs and larval stages.

In order to meet the oxygen levels outlined in the new standards, wastewater facilities would be forced to treat ammonia before discharging into the estuary.

The EPA’s announcement comes as welcome news to the Delaware Riverkeeper Network. For years, the environmental group and scientists have urged the Delaware River Basin Commission, which oversees the region’s water quality, to increase its 1967 criteria for dissolved oxygen levels.

In 2022, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network petitioned the federal government to step in and take action, which resulted in the EPA’s 2023 proposed standards. However, when the agency did not meet a deadline to finalize those standards, the organization filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

The organization’s Maya van Rossum said she was relieved by the announcement and hopes the regulations will help to repopulate Atlantic sturgeon in the Delaware River.

“This means that the aquatic life of the fish, but particularly the Atlantic sturgeon of the Delaware River … they are going to have better conditions within which to live, and that they are going to have higher quality water and a higher level of oxygen during critical times of year that they literally need to breed in order to propagate, and for the little babies to grow and become healthy adults,” she said.

In a statement, Kristen Bowman Kavanagh, director of the Delaware River Basin Commission, called the new EPA rules a “significant ecological boost.”

“The DRBC will continue delivering scientific and modeling expertise to EPA, our member states, and stakeholders to aid in implementing the new rule and improving dissolved oxygen in our shared Delaware River,” she said.

However, the new rules have been criticized by some water providers. Earlier this year, the Philadelphia Water Department told WHYY News the proposal was “overly stringent, not developed with sound science, and could significantly increase PWD customer bills.”

Van Rossum argued water providers have a moral responsibility to address pollution caused by outdated wastewater practices.

“The fact of the matter is if the water department had begun addressing this problem two decades ago, three decades ago, when we all knew they were having a significant impact on the quality of the river … we would be in a dramatically different place,” she said.