On October 2, 2024, Delaware Riverkeeper Network filed a lawsuit against the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for violating the Clean Water Act by failing to finalize dissolved oxygen standards essential for protecting the Delaware River’s endangered population of Atlantic Sturgeon and other aquatic life. After negotiations, Delaware Riverkeeper Network and EPA agreed to the proposed consent decree affirming the EPA Administrator will sign a final rule promulgating revised water quality standards for the Delaware River estuary by or before June 30, 2025.
The Sturgeon need your voice! Submit a comment in support of the proposed consent decree holding EPA accountable for the finalized rule deadline, which will help to protect aquatic life in the Delaware River, including the critically endangered population of Atlantic Sturgeon. You can submit your comment online through the federal government’s online regulatory portal.
To start off your comment, please include a message from the heart explaining why you care about protecting the Delaware River population of endangered Atlantic Sturgeon. Here are some additional ideas for talking points you can include:
[Name/Organization] is in support of the proposed consent decree in Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OGC-2025-0019 for the following reasons:
- The Delaware River population of Atlantic Sturgeon contains a genetically distinct haplotype unique to only the Delaware River, meaning this population of Atlantic Sturgeon are found nowhere else in the world but in our Delaware River.
- The unique Delaware River population is on the brink of extinction: as a result of multiple ongoing anthropogenic impacts, including water pollution and poor water quality, it is estimated that there are less than 250 spawning adults returning every year to the Delaware River.
- The current water quality standards for essential spawning and rearing habitats in the Delaware River Estuary allow dissolved oxygen criteria at or near the lethal limit for species such as Atlantic Sturgeon. As has been witnessed in recent summers, dissolved oxygen conditions in the Delaware River can quickly collapse and reach critical and lethal levels for existing aquatic life.
- Failure to upgrade the dissolved oxygen criteria threatens the survival of each year’s Atlantic Sturgeon spawning output, stifling the population’s recovery. Combined with additional significant and persistent threats to the Sturgeon, the inaction by the EPA to finalize the rule increases the risk of extinction for the Delaware River’s unique population of this ancient and iconic species of fish.
- Further delay on the final rule perpetuates harm to our communities, wildlife, and economy from degraded water quality.
All comment submissions MUST include the Docket ID number, which is EPA-HQ-OGC-2025-0019.
Written comments must be received by February 20, 2025.
More information on Delaware Riverkeeper Network’s October 2024 lawsuit.
More information on the consent decree and detailed submission instructions.