‘Treasured natural resource’ is state finalist for 2021 River of the Year Updated Jan 12, 2021; The Lehigh River is among five finalists for the state’s 2021 River of the Year. The Wildlands Conservancy is calling on the public to cast votes for the river as their favorite Pennsylvania waterway. The nonprofit organization is the Lehigh River’s water trail manager and nominated the waterway for the contest. The Pennsylvania Organization for Watersheds and Rivers, an affiliate of the Pennsylvania Environmental Council, administers the River of the Year program with funding from the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. The contest has been in existence annually since 1983.