The Common Waters Fund was established as part of a forest-to-faucet initiative to preserve the quality of water in the Delaware River Basin by helping forest landowners in the Upper Delaware River Watershed improve the management of and conserve their private forest lands, and to enlist downstream users who benefit to help in that conservation effort.

Forests in the Upper Delaware River watershed are essential to maintaining the extraordinary water quality of the Delaware River. The forests that keep water clean for the residents of the New York City metropolitan area, who draw their water directly from the reservoirs in the headwaters, are maintained by the NYC Department of Environmental Protection, a public, tax-dollar funded authority. But the millions of people who live downstream on the Main Stem of the Delaware and also depend on Delaware River water have no such centralized authority to take care of the forests on which their water quality depends.

The Common Waters Fund aims to fill this gap, by funding good stewardship and conservation by the private landowners in the Upper Delaware watershed on whose forests the water quality of all downstream users depends. Initial funding for the Common Waters Fund was financed by a grant from the United States Endowment for Forestry and Communities, and the generous contributions of services by Common Waters Partners support its implementation. The fund now aims to establish a permanent funding stream that will include contributions from downstream users who enjoy the extraordinary water quality of the Delaware River and are willing to invest in its continuation.

Initial funding for the Common Waters Fund was financed by a grant from the United States Endowment for Forestry and Communities, and the generous contributions of services by Common Waters Partners support its implementation. The fund also accepts donations from individuals, companies and organizations, and looks to establish a permanent funding stream from downstream users who enjoy the extraordinary water quality of the Delaware River and are willing to invest in its continuation.