The Delaware River takes the top spot in Pennsylvania.

Monroe County Commissioner Sharon Laverdure announced at the board’s meeting Wednesday morning that the Delaware River was selected to be the 2025 Pennsylvania River of the Year.

“Now that, that’s a huge award,” Laverdure said.

A River of the Year festival and paddle was held on June 18 at the Minisink Park in Smithfield Township. This is the third time the Delaware River has been selected for the award, which was received in 2002 and 2011.

The award is won through a public competition in which people can vote online for their favorite waterway. The contest is organized by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the Pennsylvania Organization for Waterways and Rivers. The Upper Delaware Preservation Coalition nominated the Delaware River for the award. Since the river won, the coalition will receive a $15,000 Leadership Grant from DCNR and POWR to support its activities.

A total of 8,037 cast their votes for their favorite river. The Delaware received 2,962 votes, followed by the Youghiogheny River with 2,784, and Perkiomen Creek with 2,291 votes.

The Delaware River is the home to the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, which is one of the top 20 most-visited national park areas in the country, according to the DCNR. Many of its tributaries are being studied for national protection under the Wild and Scenic Rivers program.

“The Delaware River is a conservation success story, and this designation is a testament to its historical, cultural, and recreational significance,” DCNR Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn said in a press release. “From providing drinking water to millions to fueling economic growth and offering outdoor recreation, the Delaware River is a shining example of how communities can work together to protect and restore vital natural resources.”

The Delaware River provides drinking water to more than 14 million people. DCNR said the river had been so polluted at one time that ship hulls were darkened by the contamination.

Laverdure added, “I know there were several issues with pollution, and through the work of the Monroe County people, through the work of the people that support the Delaware River, there’s no pollution; it’s beautiful.”

Laverdure said she thinks the reason DCNR highlighted the past level of pollution of the Delaware River is because of how far it has come.

“(It) wanted to make sure that the folks that voted, the folks that use the Delaware River understand where it’s been, where it’s come, and now where it is, which is back at the top,” she said.

At the meeting, Laverdure stood beside the commemorative poster celebrating the award. She said the artwork was done by 7-year-old Sadie Linn Duryea of Stroudsburg. She said that Duryea used a mixture of painting and collage materials to make the original artwork, which prominently featured the river down the center with a man in a boat fishing and a deer by the water’s edge.

“It was amazing,” Laverdure said. “This art was gorgeous.”