Floods sink canoe company’s business
Water keeps David Jones' business afloat. But too much of it can sink Kittatinny Canoes, north of the Delaware Water Gap in Dingmans Ferry.
Water keeps David Jones' business afloat. But too much of it can sink Kittatinny Canoes, north of the Delaware Water Gap in Dingmans Ferry.
Each of the three floods since September 2004 did $500,000 in damage, wiping out his boat launches and leaving craters as deep as 10 feet. Only one struck in the lucrative summer season, in June 2006, closing down Kittatinny for Independence Day and much of July.
"We lost over a million dollars in revenue," Jones said.
The watercraft business - kayaking, tubing, rafting and canoeing - is big industry in the upper and middle Delaware, with at least 15 companies generating "way over $10 million" each year, he said.
Jones has two worries about the new Basin Commission rules. One, that the lack of permanent voids in the reservoirs will keep him in harm's way. Two, that the water releases in summer won't be adequate for boating.
"It's one of the largest industries here," he said, and the Delaware River Basin Commission doesn't "even seem to care."
Convinced that "whatever I say doesn't matter anyway," Jones did not attend the public hearing in January.
No one will listen until "we have a massive flood . . . that takes out major bridges," he said. "We need to kill hundreds or thousands for things to change."