Delaware Environmental Institute

• Groundwater is Delaware’s — and the world’s — greatest hidden treasure | Opinion

  The most precious resource beneath the earth’s surface isn’t oil or diamonds. It’s groundwater. This year, groundwater is the focus of World Water Day, observed March 22. Although we can’t see it, there is more than 1,000 times more water in the ground

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• New Delaware law outlaws sale, import of invasive plants – WHYY

  People selling, importing, or planting invasive species in Delaware could face a $50 to $500 fine when a new state law goes into effect next year. It’s part of an effort to preserve not only native plant species but also to help support the local insec

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• ‘A game-changer’ | DelNature celebrates Carney’s renewed efforts to fund Clean Water Trust

  Delaware’s natural waterways are polluted. We know that 90% of our waterways are polluted; 100 miles of fish consumption advisories in Delaware; one acre of tidal wetlands is lost daily in our region. We also have rising waters and increased flooding,”

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• Disconnected: Thousands in Delaware lack access to safer public water

  In Delaware, about 173,000 residents depend on private wells. In Sussex County alone, 98,000 people, or more than half the county’s population, have them. Sussex County has had a long history of a rural agriculture economy, and therefore the people that live out in the rural areas are far enough from the towns and cities they have their own private water systems. They don’t live close enough to get what we call city water from a public water utility. Many residents of the county report their well water is unsafe or undrinkable. To connect to a public water supply, they must first clear several high hurdles.

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• Brandywine Creek dam-removal project aiming to start work this year

  Brandywine Shad 2020, a nonprofit led by the Brandywine Conservancy, the Hagley Museum & Library, and the University of Delaware, is hoping after three years of preparation to begin removing dams this year, or to modify them in ways that allow the fish to swim upstream through about 23 miles of the creek.

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• New funding to study microplastic pollution effect on Delaware Bay Blue crabs

  Through its marine debris program, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is giving the university a $325,000 grant to study the impact of microplastics on blue crab populations near the Delaware Bay.

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• Researcher conducts second survey in two Rt. 9 neighborhoods on environment, relocation

  New Castle County continues to investigate solutions for two neighborhoods off Route 9 that are surrounded by heavy industry. A County-commissioned survey last year found roughly half of residents in Eden Park Gardens and Hamilton Park would be likely to move away if given fair value for their homes or financial assistance.

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• Considering ‘managed retreat’ as a response to sea level rise

  The question of how low-lying coastal communities will adapt to the rising seas and more extreme weather caused by climate change is increasingly making it into the public consciousness. That’s especially true in Delaware, which is particularly vulnerable because its land is sinking at the same time as waters are rising. One strategy that’s often listed as a possibility, but rarely discussed in depth, is simply getting out of the way.

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• In a changing climate, ghost forests of the Delaware Bay testify to saltwater’s power

  To the north and east of his 126-acre farm at the corner of Fowler Beach Road, dozens of gray stalks of leafless and lifeless trees litter the landscape’s edge. The same saltwater that killed those trees and created one of the state’s most striking ghost forests has left chunks of Wells’ fields barren.

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• WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE: A multidisciplinary look at policy

  Reducing contaminants means more fish in Delaware’s Christina River are safe to eat. Managing the water flow in Galveston Bay allows oysters to thrive. And around the world, reducing conflicts over water and other natural resources helps to promote pea

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