Going down…

The Delaware River gage at Riegelsville shows the river is still surging up to 14’ (8’ short of flood stage).

It won’t crest and fall until most of the tributaries have done so, particularly the major streams like the Lehigh, Lackawaxen, and Musconetcong.

The Musconetcong River is still creeping up a bit but will fall far short of its 6’ flood stage. The Flatbrook, Paulinskill and Pequest have all flatlined or are falling.

The Lackawaxen has flatlined well below flood stage and most important of all, the Lehigh River at ‘O’ Little Town’ has turned the corner and crested. The Delaware River should soon crest near 14’.

It’s always interesting to note that – all things being equal – the Delaware River at Belvidere and Delaware River at Riegelsville typically run at the same level, and share the same flood stage number.

However, right now the river at Riegelsville is running 2’ higher than the upstream location. Most of that difference can be attributed to the Lehigh River, which joins the Delaware well below Belvidere and 9 miles upstream from Riegelsville. Note: The NYC reservoirs were full coming into the storm event.

As the second largest tributary to the Delaware River the Lehigh is the most important factor for both water quality and water quantity in the lower Delaware River below Easton.

We need a dry spell.