Delaware River and Catskill Region Hydrologic Observatory

This poster presents the nationally unique opportunities for hydrology-based research in the Delaware River and Catskill Mountain (DelCat) Region. The DelCat region encompasses all of the Delaware river Basin and the New York City Catskills' source watersheds. It has been a key water resource region prior to the founding of our country. This mountain-river-estuary hydrologic system together with other watersheds in the Catskills has supported the population and economic growth of major metropolitan areas of the early United States by providing water supply, land and forests, transportation, power generation, fisheries, recreation, and pollution elimination. The presentation is an account of a forthcoming effort designed to elicit support and participation. After greatly expanding the user and research community for the DelCat observatory, we will design the facility to serve a large user base interested in studies on a wide range of basic and applied hydrologic science topics and issues. Our current plans are to define the form of the hydrologic observatory, and to forecast the nature of what hydrologic sciences can achieve in the DelCat Region.