"It's like you see the bottom. The bottom. There's no water down there," said Benita Parrotta of Hamilton Twp., N.J.
It's so low in some spots it seems like you can almost walk across the Delaware.
The U.S. Geological Survey has gauges that measure water flow and Wednesday in Trenton the Delaware was moving at 3,830 cubic feet per second. That's the lowest recording here since they started keeping records 98 years ago.
And because of it, jagged rocks never seen before are jutting out of the river.
"Normally the tide level, the water is behind these trees, between the trees and the stone. And now? No, it's really, really low," said Carol Hoekje of Delaware Twp., N.J.
In Lambertville, a newly exposed spit of gravel has been exposed by the low water.
"Usually we can't get our boat onto the river until it calms down later in the season," said Gordon Haas. "But it's spring. I can't imagine what it's going to be like in July or August."
Action News noticed one ferry that was out on the Delaware between New Hope and Lambertville, able to navigate the shallow river because it's a pontoon boat that sits on top of the water.
But the operators of the educational steamboat called SPLASH say they need another foot of water in the river before they can launch.
"It has just been too low to provide buoyancy needed for a 15-16 ton steamboat," said Eric Clark, of SPLASH Steamboat.
"It's unusual certainly and something we're keeping a very close eye on," said Clarke Rupert of the Delaware River Basin Commission.
Rupert says if the river's flow drops below 3,000 cubic feet per second that will trigger a water release from reservoirs in Pennsylvania. The purpose would be to push back the movement of salty water that comes from the ocean into the Delaware.
Philadelphia gets 60% of its water from the Delaware. The good news is at this point the salt line is nowhere near the intakes which are located in Torresdale.
