Library: Education and Outreach Materials

A collection of wetlands education and outreach materials from the DNREC Watershed Assessment Section. Wetland Publications Library

Wetland Health Reports

Management Plans and Monitoring Protocols

Long-Term Wetlands Monitoring

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Wetland Monitoring and Assessment

By understanding the health of our wetlands, we also can better understand how to restore them and protect them from actions that cause damage. Wetland Health Assessments

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Delaware Wetlands

The DNREC Wetland Monitoring and Assessment Program, known as Delaware Wetlands, provides quality reports on the status, health and function of Delaware’s wetlands. It collaborates with other government agencies, businesses, non-profits and universities to further wetland research. Alison Rogerson Delaware

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Enjoy Wetlands

Nearly 30 percent of Delaware is covered in wetlands, offering residents and visitors alike the opportunity to explore and enjoy everything wetlands have to offer. Whether it’s visiting one of the nature centers, or taking a hike through a park, wetlands are easily accessible across the state. So grab your friends and family and check

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Delaware Wetlands Status and Trends

Delaware’s Wetlands Status and Trends reports are based on the results of wetland trends analyses performed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) Program for Delaware’s Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control. Two reports have been published, one in 2001 and another in 2011.

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Mispillion Wetland Assessment

The Mispillion and Cedar Creek watersheds are located in southeastern Kent County and northeastern Sussex County. In Delaware this watershed includes the cities and towns of Milford, Houston, Lincoln and Slaughter Beach. Wetland Assessment Reports

Wetland Assessments

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Appoquinimink River Watershed Wetland Assessment

The Appoquinimink River watershed is located within New Castle County and contains the Towns of Odessa, Middletown and Townsend. It drains into the Delaware Bay, encompassing 58,591 acres of land. Wetland Assessment Reports

Wetland Assessments Home

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Wetlands Provide

Wetlands provide many important economic, social, and environmental benefits. Fish and Shellfish Production

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Broadkill Watershed Wetland Assessment

The Broadkill River watershed in Sussex County encompasses 68,500 acres within the Delaware Bay and Estuary Basin. Twenty percent of the watershed is covered in wetlands. Wetland Assessment Reports

Wetland Assessments Home

Appoquinimink Watershed

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Library: Wetlands Videos

A collection of wetlands videos from the DNREC Watershed Assessment Section. All links below will open in YouTube. Wetland Publications Library

Wetland Health Reports

Management Plans and Monitoring Protocols

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Inland Bays Watershed Wetland Assessment

Unique and rare wetland communities surrounding the Inland Bays include Atlantic White Cedar swamps, sea-level fens, and interdunal swales providing habitat for numerous rare plants and animals. Wetland Assessment Reports

Wetland Assessments Home

Appoquinimink

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Delaware Wetland Management Plan

Delaware is a state rich with wetlands that vary from forested vernal ponds, to highly productive salt marshes, to unique Bald Cypress Swamps. As stewards of these great resources it is our responsibility to slow the loss of wetland acreage, improve the health of remaining wetlands and work together to better understand and share with

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Murderkill Watershed Wetland Assessment

Located in Kent County, the Murderkill watershed covers 28,000 hectares (69,000 acres) within the Delaware Bay and Estuary Basin. This watershed contains many key natural heritage and wildlife habitats such as coastal plain streams and ponds, impoundments, wetlands and beach dunes. Rare wetland habitats including coastal plain ponds and bald cypress riverine patches are located

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Nanticoke Watershed Wetland Assessment

Located in the Coastal Plain physiographic region, the Nanticoke River watershed historically was very rich in wetland resources which covered an estimated 46 percent of the land area. Wetland Assessment Reports

Wetland Assessments Home

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Sea Level Rise and Delaware’s Wetlands

Over the past century, Delaware has experienced a sea level rise of more than one foot. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the rate of sea level rise will increase over the next century. This will lead to the loss of coastal wetlands in Delaware. [column md=”6″ xclass=”col=xs-12 col-md-6

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Living Shorelines

A living shoreline is a method of shoreline stabilization and protection for wetlands that is built using natural materials and native plants. They are a habitat friendly alternative to rip rap, bulkhead or stone revetments. Alison Rogerson Watershed Assessment 302-739-9939

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St. Jones Watershed Wetland Assessment

Located in Kent County, the St. Jones River watershed covers 57,643 acres of the Delaware Bay Basin. The St. Jones River is dammed at Silver Lake in Dover and then winds 10 miles through residential and commercially developed areas, the Delaware National Estuarine Research Reserve, and the Ted Harvey Wildlife Area, before emptying into Delaware

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Wetlands Purify

Wetlands purify our water by removing sediments and other pollutants including chemicals. Wetlands also filter and process excess nutrients that may runoff from agricultural and development sites. Wetlands have been called “the kidneys of our watersheds.” Wetlands Purify [button type=”info”

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Wetland Health Assessments

The Wetland Monitoring and Assessment program is tasked with the job of assessing the health of Delaware’s wetlands. Wetland Assessment Reports

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Library: Management Plans and Monitoring Protocols

A collection of management plans and monitoring protocols from the DNREC Watershed Assessment Section. Wetland Publications Library

Wetland Health Reports

Management Plans and Monitoring Protocols

Long-Term Wetlands Monitoring

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Christina Watershed Wetland Assessment

The Christina Watershed is located in New Castle County, extending north and west into Maryland and Pennsylvania. In Delaware this watershed includes the cities and towns of Wilmington, Elsmere, Newark, and Christiana. Wetland Assessment Reports

Wetland Assessments

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Smyrna Watershed Wetland Assessment

The Smyrna River watershed encompasses 71 square miles and is composed of three sub-watersheds: Smyrna River, Duck Creek, and Cedar Swamp-Delaware Bay. It is located partially in Kent County and partially in New Castle County. The watershed is within the Delaware Bay and Estuary Basin, so all of its waters drain into the Delaware Bay.

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Dam Safety

The Delaware Dam Safety Program works to reduce the risk of failure of dams and to prevent injuries, property damage, and loss of reservoir storage due to dam failure. It oversees the design and construction, operation and maintenance, and inspection of regulated dams in Delaware.

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Questions and Answers

A collection of common questions, and answers, about the coastal construction regulatory program. The Division of Watershed Stewardship’s Shoreline and Waterway Management Section has a series of maps that show the location of the Building Line.

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Adopt-a-Beach

DNREC’s Adopt-A-Beach program is a partnership between the Department and Delaware volunteers, working in tandem to protect and enhance Delaware’s beaches. Going beyond just picking up litter, DNREC’s

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Beach Grass Planting

Volunteers are the backbone of Delaware’s shoreline stabilization. Every spring since 1990, except when pandemic conditions prevented it, dedicated volunteers have stabilized Delaware’s sand dunes by planting more than 5 million stems of Cape American beach grass along ocean and bay beaches. The 2026 Annual Beach Grass Planting

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You Can Help Protect Beaches and Dunes

There are several ways property owners and visitors can preserve and protect beaches and dunes. Plant Beach Grass Planting ‘Cape’ American beach grass (Ammophila breviligulata)

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Beaches and Shorelines

The DNREC Shoreline and Waterway Management Section works to maintain and improve Delaware’s beaches, shorelines and waterways. The section manages the shoreline through regulation of coastal

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Coastal Construction

Coastal development adds stress to beach systems, especially to dunes. Dunes and beaches are the first lines of protection from wave action for coastal communities during coastal storms. Dunes also act as storage areas that supply sand to the beach during storms.

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Delaware Beach Building Line Maps

The Regulations Governing Beach Protection and the Use of Beaches (7 DE Admin. Code 5102) establishes a “building line” along the coast and stipulate that no construction may take place seaward of that without a Coastal Construction Permit or Coastal Construction Letter of Approval from the Department. The building line is mapped by the Department

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Beaches are a Natural Resource

The sandy beaches along the Atlantic Ocean and Delaware Bay shorelines are valuable natural resources to the State of Delaware. The beaches were created by nature and continue to be shaped by wind and waves. The 1972 Beach Preservation Act (7 Del.C. Chapter 68) provides the authority to DNREC to enhance, preserve, and protect the

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Macroalgae in Delaware’s Inland Bays

The water quality of Delaware’s Inland Bays is very important to outdoor recreational activities available for Delawareans and visitors alike. The Assawoman, Indian River and Rehoboth Bays provide a superb venue for fishing, boating, waterskiing and other related outdoor activities. However, like so many natural resources, these areas also suffer from the negative effects of

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Landowner Protection Options

Approximately 45 percent of all wetlands in the state are located on privately owned lands, with the remaining wetlands found on both state and federal lands. With nearly half of Delaware’s wetlands found on private lands it is important for landowners to recognize the benefits wetlands provide and work towards conserving and preserving them.

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The Delaware Wetlands Conference

The next Delaware Wetlands Conference is set for Jan. 27 and 28 in 2026 at the Chase Center on the Riverfront in Wilmington. The conference planning committee is excited to integrate feedback and share new features for the upcoming conference. In previous years, this

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Leipsic Watershed Wetland Assessment

The Leipsic River watershed is composed of two sub-watersheds, Leipsic River and Little Creek, and encompasses 128 square miles. It is located in Kent County within the Delaware Bay and Estuary Basin, and all of its waters drain into the Delaware Bay. Land cover in this watershed is dominated by wetlands and agriculture.

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Red Lion Watershed Wetland Assessment

The Red Lion watershed is located within New Castle County, where it encompasses 46,283 acres (72 square miles) of land within the Delaware Bay and Estuary Basin. It is composed of the C&D Canal East, Dragon Creek, Red Lion Creek, Army Creek, and Broad Dike Canal. Approximately 16% of the land area of the watershed

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Chesapeake Bay Projects

This page includes information on some of the projects undertaken by DNREC and its partners to help meet the goals of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan.

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Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan – Phase III

There have been three phases of Delaware’s Chesapeake Bay WIP. Delaware developed its Phase I WIP in 2010 and its Phase II WIP in 2012. Both the Phase I and Phase II WIPs describe actions and controls to be implemented by 2017 and 2025 to achieve applicable water quality standards. The Phase III WIP provides

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Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan – Phase I

Draft Phase I Watershed Implementation Plans (WIPs) were due to EPA on Sept. 1, 2010. Final plans were submitted on Nov. 29, 2010. Following the release of Delaware’s Draft Phase I WIP, numerous comments and questions from both EPA and various stakeholder groups within the watershed were submitted.

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Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan – Phase II

Delaware’s Draft Phase II Watershed Implementation Plan for the Chesapeake Watershed was submitted to the EPA on Dec. 15, 2011. EPA reviewed the document and provided comments in Feb. 2012. Public comments were accepted through March 21, 2012. All suggestions were considered and the document was modified accordingly.

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Events and Workshops

The DNREC Nonpoint Source Program has hosted and participated in a series of events, workshops, and presentations designed to promote and support improvements to the quality of Delaware’s waterways. Blackbird Creek Fall Festival (Oct. 18, 2025) The Nonpoint Source (NPS) Program staffed an exhibit at the annual

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Chesapeake Bay Milestones

To continue accelerating progress toward meeting water quality goals, the EPA and Chesapeake Bay Program jurisdictions, including Delaware, agreed to set interim two-year milestones – or short-term goals – as a critical part of an accountability framework. ChesapeakeStat Find data and information

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Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan

Delaware is among six Chesapeake Bay Watershed states – along with Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New York – and the District of Columbia committed to a federal-state initiative to develop a pollution “diet” that will help restore the water quality of the Bay and its tidal waters by 2025. [column

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Verification of Best Management Practices

The implementation, tracking and reporting of Best Management Practices (BMPs) has been at the center of the Chesapeake Bay Program partnership’s restoration efforts for almost three decades. Properly installed and functioning practices and technologies reduce local flooding, protect sources of drinking water, ensure against the collapse of stream

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Watershed Plans and Strategies

Numerous documents describing plans or strategies for water quality and watershed improvements have been developed over the years. Some of these efforts originated through the Tributary Action Team process while others came through other initiatives. All of the documents below can be considered watershed management plans for the Water Quality Improvement Projects grant program

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Pollution Control Strategies and Tributary Action Teams

A 1997 federal court case required Delaware to set pollution limits for its waterways. These limits are called Total Maximum Daily Loads or TMDLs, a term you will hear a lot in water pollution discussions. In order to meet these new pollution limits, we are identifying ways to reduce water pollution. Usually, citizens don’t get

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Integrated Report: 305(b) Report and 303(d) List

Section 305(b) of the Federal Clean Water Act requires that states and other entities prepare and submit Watershed Assessment Reports to the US EPA on April 1 of every even-numbered year.

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You Can Help Protect Delaware’s Waterways

There are always things that you can do in your everyday life, no matter where you live, to help protect the waterways that serve as our drinking water sources, habitat for wildlife, and places of recreation. Maintain a Healthy Lawn and Garden A healthy lawn and garden makes a

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Watershed Assessment and Management

The Watershed Assessment and Management Section oversees the health of the state’s surface water resources and takes actions to protect and improve water quality for aquatic life and human use.

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Whole Basin Management

Beginning in the 1990s, the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) took a different approach to assessing, managing, and protecting Delaware’s natural resources. This approach, known as Whole Basin Management, encouraged the various programs throughout DNREC to work in an integrated manner to assess different geographic areas of the state defined on the

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