New York, NY — April 1, 2016 — A new film about on-the-ground efforts to protect the Delaware River Watershed debuts April 10 at the Princeton Environmental Film Festival. Directed by Academy Award-winning Director Thomas Lennon for the Open Space Institute (OSI) with funding from the William Penn Foundation as part of the Delaware River Watershed Initiative (DRWI), the film highlights the river’s ongoing stresses and the grassroots efforts underway to protect and restore it.
The Delaware River Watershed provides drinking water for 15 million people, covers 14,000 square miles and generates $25 million for the regional economy. The watershed is threatened by growing development, agricultural and stormwater runoff, and in some places energy infrastructure such as pipelines and transmission corridors.
The Delaware River Watershed Initiative (DRWI), funded by the William Penn Foundation, is a major grassroots effort, involving farmers, land trusts, municipalities and universities to focus attention, raise funding and implement actions to ensure the watershed’s long-term protection. As a critical part of the DRWI, OSI is helping to facilitate the permanent protection of land to ensure abundant, clean water within the Delaware River region.
“The Delaware River Watershed faces significant threats, despite the invaluable gifts it provides to millions of people,” said Peter Howell, OSI’s Executive Vice President. “This film is meant to highlight this extraordinary asset, and the important role each of us can play in its protection and restoration.”
Using interviews with scientists and activists, the film highlights threats and profiles efforts underway by DRWI and other grassroots activists, landowners and others, to protect forests, improve farm management and implement “green infrastructure” in Philadelphia.