After Weeks, Water Is Headed Back To Delaware Canal

After a month of an empty Delaware Canal in part of Solebury Township and New Hope Borough, state officials expect water to begin flowing again over the coming days.

In early May, the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources said the Center Bridge pump, which supplies water to the New Hope section of the Delaware Canal State Park from the Delaware River, was found knocked over. It was not able to pump water into the canal.

As of this week, that issue has been fixed.

Wesley Robinson, a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, said a pump is back in place and “water levels are expected to be satisfactory by the weekend.”

As of Tuesday evening, water had begun filling the canal in Solebury Township. However, the section in New Hope Borough remained dry.

The pump outage led to a drop in water levels and left the canal bed exposed. Rotting fish attracted bugs and birds.

State officials will look at the broken pump to try to find out what caused the issue, Robinson said.

Crews had to wait for the right river levels to put a pump in place to begin refilling the canal.