The Delaware Estuary Program (DELEP) is one of 28 congressionally designated National Estuary Programs throughout the coastal United States working to improve the environmental health of the nation’s estuaries. The Partnership for the Delaware Estuary (PDE) is a non-profit organization established in 1996 and based in Wilmington, DE. PDE and partners of DELEP work together to coordinate and implement long-term plans for the Delaware Estuary Focus Area. The partners of DELEP have committed to implement strategies in the Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP) with support and collaboration from the broader community of local, state, regional, and federal partners, as well as non-profit organizations and the private sector.

The tidal portion of the Delaware River Basin is the Delaware Estuary Program’s Focus Area and the study area for the CCMP. DELEP partners have agreed that some strategies in the CCMP should include actions in the Upper Basin, the nontidal portion of the Delaware River Basin, because of its influence downstream into the Estuary Focus Area.