In 1960s, US began displacing around 600 families for a 40-mile reservoir; in 1975 the dam was...

Origin Story: The Tocks Island Dam Controversy The US government once planned to flood a 40-mile stretch of the Delaware River valley to build a massive reservoir, only to cancel the project and turn the acquired land into a sprawling federal parkland.The Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, a 70,000-acre national park spanning Pennsylvania and New Jersey, exists today as the unexpected result of the abandoned Tocks Island Dam project. What began as an ambitious mid-century plan to control floods and generate hydroelectric power ended in 1975, when regional authorities voted to cancel the project, leaving 40 miles of free-flowing river under the National Park Service.High water and a federal mandateThe push to dam the Delaware River gained national attention in August 1955, when Hurricanes Connie and Diane hit the eastern seaboard one after another. The floods devastated the Pocono region, killing nearly 100 people along Brodhead Creek alone.In response, Congress ordered the US Army Corps of Engineers to review a 1930s plan to build dams and reservoirs throughout the Delaware basin. The main project was planned at the southern tip of Tocks Island.If built, the dam would hav...