Office of the Delaware River Master
Flexible Flow Management Program
FFMP Studies
General Study
On October 21, 2017, the Parties to the 1954 Supreme Court Decree (Delaware, New Jersey, New York, New York City, Pennsylvania) (Decree Parties) entered into an agreement, the 2017 Flexible Flow Management Program (FFMP2017). FFMP2017 is a two-part, ten-year agreement, which builds on the experience gained from the last 10 years of similar programs, also known as the Flexible Flow Management Programs (FFMPs). During the first five years, the Decree Parties agreed to study and investigate different aspects of the FFMP2017, assess their effectiveness, impacts and benefits under current and future stressors, and evaluate alternatives for achieving the program's goals and objectives. Also, during the first five years, the Decree Parties will evaluate and select models and other tools for use with the analysis and to support planning and operations.
General Study WorkplanSalinity/Detachment Study
The salinity study will evaluate impacts and conditions resulting from the "detachment of releases from the New York City Delaware Reservoirs from the position of the salt front during drought emergency and replacing the benefit that New York City releases have with respect to the salt front with an alternative methodology or methodologies that will provide comparable protection for existing resources within the Basin" (Section IV.2 and IV.3.a.i, FFMP2017). This study will include an evaluation of the impacts to the aquatic and fishery resources, the effect of projections of sea-level rise on salinity and possible synergistic effects from various combinations of releases.
Alternatives may include, but are not limited to, flow objectives, storage, and augmentation releases from the upper- and lower-basin reservoirs in conjunction with detachment of New York City releases from the position of the salt front during drought emergency. The resulting analyses and conclusions will be used to inform Decree Party negotiations for Phase II of the FFMP2017 agreement.
New Jersey Diversion
The study will evaluate the impacts of increasing the New Jersey diversion limit by varying amounts in the different stages of drought, during both basin-wide and lower-basin drought status. Evaluation of the effects of the increased diversion will include the items identified in the FFMP2017.
Storage for the Lower Basin
The development and use of existing storage are aspects of flow management identified in the FFMP2017 and previously considered by the Decree Parties during the Good Faith Negotiations in the early 1980s. Additional storage may be useful for increasing the basin's drought resiliency under current and future conditions, such as sea-level rise, and allow for more flexibility in meeting lower basin objectives. As part of the first five years of the FFMP2017, the potential increase in available storage for the lower basin, from the optimization of existing storage, the expansion of existing storage or the development of new storage, will be studied considering water planning efforts conducted by the DRBC, States, Decree Parties, and Office of the Delaware River Master (ODRM).
Balancing Adjustment
The ODRM forecasts flows at Montague three days in advance in order to direct compensating releases from the New York City reservoirs as defined by the 1954 Supreme Court Decree. A balancing adjustment procedure is used as a means to conserve the waters of the basin by tracking and compensating for the inherent errors in forecasted directed releases. The balancing adjustment procedure was examined to assess its effectiveness at achieving its intended goal. As a result of the study, several improvements to the procedure were implemented in June 2023.