(gentle music) (water running) - The Delaware Upper Basin is never really developed.

It's 98% forest cover.

The people around here associate the forest service with Gifford Pinchot and the development of conservation.

Theodore Roosevelt and Gifford Pincho, Republican governor and lifelong Republican, felt that conservation is essential to our national well-being.

(birds chirping) In the summer, out here on the weekend, group after group, after group goes by and canoes and people fishing and down the swimming beach, they come out here and this is what public lands do.

Plus we discovered this river, jam packed with fish, and there's a thriving little industry of guides that work off of that.

But... See, you can hear that?

You hear the fish jumping?

Yeah, it happens all along river.

(mellow music) One of the board members of the Pincho Institute, Carol Collier, she was also on the board of the William Penn foundation, with some one of the large foundations in Philadelphia.

The William Penn foundation says we really focus on the five counties around Philadelphia, that's really outside of our area.

Well, if you drive from Philadelphia to Milford, you can't get there from here.

It's this way.

I put up a map and I drew a line from Milford to Philadelphia and it's a straight line down, it's called the Delaware river.

And I said from the Delaware water gap, that's where your drinking water comes from.

(water running) Probably the most important, fresh water drinking water source in the Eastern United States.

After I retired, I was approached by a park service employee, Denise Cook.

She was the water expert for the Delaware water gap, national recreation area.

Coordination between the various governmental agencies and groups, is was a real challenge for them.

We invited the county planners, some conservation groups.

So the nature Conservancy in Delaware Highlands, the conservation districts.

And we had a meeting at Grey Towers and we began to talk about common problems we shared and that by coordination, we could help them make things better.

The publisher of the river reported, Laurie Stewart, is the one who first came up with the name, common waters.

And I think Denise and I added the third word partnership because that's really what this was all about.

Recently, the American rivers foundation recognized the work that has been done here in the upper Delaware.

This used to be listed as one of the most threatened rumors.

And now, it's considered to be one of the best managed rivers in the United States.

They have to take into consideration that this is a community effort.

The town governments, county governments, conservation districts, the nature Conservancy, the Delaware Highlands, the forest service, the parks they're rich, The Ben show Institute, it's really truly a community accomplishment.

Young people are waking up, Hey, we're going to inherit this thing.

This is our environment.

We want to protect it.

So that's very encouraging.

Cause I've, you know, I have two children and two grandchildren.

Every one can take pride in this.

(mellow music) (birds chirping)