Delaware

Where is the Delaware River deepest? New map poster shows 113-foot answer

Published

1 year ago

May 16, 2024

Where is the Delaware River deepest? New map poster shows 113-foot answer

Where is the deepest part of the 330-mile Delaware River? Where it is also widest, where the river meets the Delaware Bay? Try Narrowsburg, New York. A new map has been published showing the mysterious contours of what is called the “Big Eddy Narrows.”

The river, the longest free-flowing river east of the Mississippi, is 113 feet deep at River Mile 290, counting from Delaware Bay, and visible from the bridge connecting Pennsylvania and New York.

The Delaware River’s average depth is only four to five feet, although holes of 12 to 18 feet are not unusual.

A diver with a local search and rescue team said no light penetrates the bottom at all.

Made a map poster

The map is available as an 11-by-17-inch poster that its creator has donated to benefit the non-profit Upper Delaware Council (UDC), announced UDC Executive Director Laurie Ramie.

The map was developed by Lisa Glover of Honesdale, who became enthralled with this unique, local claim to fame of the Delaware River and contacted the UDC.

Although one might muse that the hamlet of Narrowsburg should have been named Deepestburg, its name is derived from its other distinction of being the main stem’s narrowest part. The river courses through a rock canyon before the bridge, where it is only 200 feet wide.

Where to see it

The Big Eddy Observation Deck on Main Street in Narrowsburg has an interpretative sign telling these distinctive topographic features. Here the public also finds a good place to watch for bald eagles as rowboats, canoes, kayaks, and rafts go by.

Perhaps very few people paddling by or on shore looking at this scenic part of the river are aware of the fantastic underwater depth.

This very deep part of the Delaware also is easily seen from the Darbytown Access on the Pennsylvania side.

The interpretative sign at the deck offers two theories of how the 113-foot hole was created. The first is that a long-drowned “plunge pool” was created from a glacial waterfall. The other theory is that a pothole was formed by tumbling rocks scoured out through erosion.

A whirlpool is often visible at the Big Eddy, where the deepest point is located just downstream from the narrows.

Log rafts spun like tops

The deeps at Narrowsburg have been known for a very long time, impacting 19th century log rafters. The Wayne County Herald’s Feb. 20, 1873, edition reported that J.I. Appleby and J.E. Miller, of Narrowsburg, out of curiosity took soundings of the river from a boat. They concluded the river was 101 feet. “Rafts in coming down the Delaware are frequently drawn into this eddy and sometimes detained for days,” the article reads. “Whenever the wind is blowing with any force, rafts are sure to be drawn into this eddy where they have to remain until the wind calms.”

The Herald republished an unattributed column from The Middletown Mercury on Jan. 20, 1881, stating that log rafts caught in the Big Eddy “may spin around like a top for an hour.” Rafts so caught could create a river traffic jam of a hundred rafts. “I have seen 500 rafts in here at one time, some of them on top of each other, and some turned up on edge, and others bottom side up,” the columnist penned.

Extensive research

The UDC press release states that Glover read articles from the UDC’s “The Upper Delaware” newsletter which led her to interviews with National Park Service divers who had measured the hole. Glover also found various illustrations.

She spoke of her desire for an accurately detailed map of the river bottom with the hope of potentially solving the mystery. Although topographic maps exist showing the elevation of landforms above “sea level,” bathymetric maps show depths of landforms below water.

Glover, in her research, discovered that the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) had published a LiDAR scan of the Delaware River in 2020 and reached research scientist John Young, who provided a digital map focused on the Big Eddy section, the press release states.

Obtaining a map

From her research, Glover designed a topobathymetric color map with 10-foot contour lines and to-scale cross sections of The Narrows and The Deeps, printed 50 copies, and offered a stack to the UDC to share with the public as a fundraiser.

The Big Eddy Narrows poster is available for a $20 donation to the UDC.

Contact Administrative Support Stephanie Driscoll at stephanie@upperdelawarecouncil.org or 845-252-3022, or stop by the UDC’s office at 211 Bridge St. in Narrowsburg (next to the firehouse) on weekdays for pick-up.

Payment must be by check or cash. Add $3 for mail orders.

Glover is affiliated with Highlights for Children, the Stourbridge Project, the Wayne County Arts Alliance and the Center on Rural Innovation, for which she is their Placemaking Fellow.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in architecture and a master of engineering degree from Lehigh University and likes to use a paddle board. Her website is lisathemaker.com.

Peter Becker has worked at the Tri-County Independent or its predecessor publications since 1994. Reach him at pbecker@tricountyindependent.com or 570-253-3055 ext. 1588.

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Delaware

Delaware Life CEO offers strategies for combatting sequence of returns risk

Published

9 hours ago

October 29, 2025

Press Room

Delaware Life CEO offers strategies for combatting sequence of returns risk

Colin Lake, president and CEO of Delaware Life, sits down with InvestmentNews anchor Gregg Greenberg to explain how workers approaching retirement can counter sequence of returns risk through guaranteed income products.

Oct 29, 2025

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Delaware

Save the embarrassment. These expungement clinics may help with clearing a Delaware record

Published

1 day ago

October 28, 2025

Press Room

Save the embarrassment. These expungement clinics may help with clearing a Delaware record

A criminal history, even one stemming from a juvenile arrest or a minor driving violation, can be a lifelong barrier to opportunity for many Delawareans. Whether or not a conviction occurred, a record can follow a person for years, showing up in background checks run by employers, landlords and loan officers.

An expungement offers a way to break that cycle. The legal process removes police and court records from public databases, allowing former defendants to move forward without being required to disclose past arrests or charges.

To help people navigate that process, several Delaware lawmakers and state agencies are hosting free expungement clinics this fall, offering one-on-one legal counseling to help eligible residents clear their records and reclaim new opportunities.

3 events planned across Delaware

Before the year ends, Delaware residents will have three opportunities to attend an expungement clinic where free, individual legal counseling will be available.

The events are organized in collaboration with the Office of Defense Services, the Delaware Criminal Justice Information System, or DELJIS, and the Delaware Department of Labor’s Advancement through Pardons and Expungement APEX Program. The Office of the Marijuana Commissioner has joined as a new sponsor this year and is contributing up to $5,000 to help cover expungement-related fees.

The sessions are open to individuals with Delaware criminal records. Services are offered on a first-come, first-served basis, and advance registration is required.

Where and how to attend

The Middletown Expungement Clinic will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. Oct. 29 at the Whitehall Recreational Center in Sen. Nicole Poore’s district. Registration is available at bit.ly/48gnKto.

The Smyrna Expungement Clinic will take place from 2 to 5 p.m. Nov. 6 at the Duck Creek Regional Library in Sen. Kyra Hoffner’s district. Registration is available at bit.ly/3KaHOn3.

In Sussex County, the Office of Defense Services will host the Life Church Expungement Clinic from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 18 at The Life Church in Laurel. Registration is available at forms.gle/bACj1h1xouk452oz8. For more information, contact Maria Clark at the Office of Defense Services at 302-688-4560.

Organizers say the goal of these clinics is to help Delaware residents overcome the lasting effects of old criminal records and move toward greater economic and personal stability. They said, by removing barriers to employment and housing, expungements can help people reenter the workforce, support their families and participate fully in their communities.

To share your community news and activities with our audience, join Delaware Voices Uplifted on Facebook. Nonprofits, community groups and service providers are welcome to submit their information to be added to our Community Resources Map. Contact staff reporter Anitra Johnson at ajohnson@delawareonline.com.

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Delaware

Would adding nuclear power solve Delaware’s energy needs?

Published

2 days ago

October 27, 2025

Press Room

Would adding nuclear power solve Delaware’s energy needs?

Nuclear energy is seeing something of a renaissance, helped in part by executive orders from President Donald Trump boosting the industry. The four orders include rapid development and deployment of advanced nuclear technologies, reconsidering radiation exposure standards, eliminating or expediting environmental reviews of applications and funding for workforce-related opportunities. Big tech companies are also betting big on nuclear energy to fuel power-hungry data centers.

Investment firm Starwood Digital Ventures is currently pitching a massive data center for Delaware City. Critics are concerned it will drain large amounts of energy and water.

Kathryn Lienhard, an offshore wind energy research associate with Delaware Sea Grant, said nuclear power generates electricity through chain reactions that produce heat. That heat is used to make steam that spins a turbine to create the electricity. Reactors use uranium, which is radioactive, for nuclear fuel, and exposure can cause lung cancer and other diseases. Spent reactor fuel is a highly radioactive byproduct that is normally stored on site, but Lienhard said the U.S. has yet to develop a long-term storage solution for the waste.

Public anxiety about the harmful health effects of nuclear power plants grew after the worst commercial reactor accident in U.S. history at the Three Mile Island plant in 1979. The partial core meltdown at the plant near Middletown, Pennsylvania, forced the evacuation of thousands of nearby residents. Numerous studies since then found no direct negative health effects on the nearby population. Microsoft is reopening the plant to power its data centers.

Dover Air Force Base in Delaware (Google Maps)

Union boilermaker Martin Willis, another task force member, said members should look at deploying a small nuclear reactor at the Dover Air Force Base. He also said the public is still resistant to adopting nuclear energy.

“I hate to say it, but even with America being in an electric generation crisis because of the demands of AI data centers, Bitcoin mining, cannabis farming and a robust economy, our nation will not embrace civilian nuclear power until parts of America suffer widespread blackouts and rolling brownouts,” he said.

The task force’s next meeting is Dec. 1. The group’s chair, state Sen. Stephanie Hansen, said the group will deliver a final report, but that date is yet to be determined.

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