Public Utilities Seek to Dilute New Delaware River Water-Quality Standards

August 27, 2025 | njspotlightnews.org

Public water utilities are appealing to the Trump administration for a last-minute reprieve from new federal rules that would raise water quality standards for a section of the Delaware River that are set to be finalized next month.

The quiet lobbying effort emerged in an Aug. 13 letter from the National Association of Clean Water Agencies addressed to a division of the federal Office of Management and Budget.

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NJ SEED: The treated wastewater discharged into the Delaware River between Trenton, NJ and Wilmington, DE represents a threat to Atlantic Sturgeon who use estuaries from southern Canada to northern Florida to propagate. The cost to ratepayers for mitigation required under the proposed EPA rule would be excessive according to the National Association of Clean Water Agencies. A delay in adoption of the new rule in order to further consider its need and impacts would seem to be in order.