Born in Elizabeth, N.J., Mr. Albert grew up in Level Green, Pa. He earned a biology degree from Otterbein College in Westerville, Ohio, in 1968 and completed two years of Army service in Alaska before earning a master's degree in environmental science and engineering at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1972.

Mr. Albert was supervising engineer and basin planner for the Delaware River Basin Commission from 1975 to 2000. While there, he wrote the Special Protection Waters regulations, a national model for the protection of high-quality basin waters.

The rules were aimed at preventing industrial and agricultural runoff from fouling the Delaware; he also oversaw enforcement of the rules in the upper Delaware, Delaware Riverkeeper Maya van Rossum said.

"It was a very progressive program, and folks look to it across the country," she said. "He was this beautiful blend of science and regulation and personal understanding of the river. He knew how to do it on every level."

Since 2000, Mr. Albert had been staff scientist and restoration director for the nonprofit Delaware Riverkeeper Network in Bristol, which does advocacy work and monitors and restores streams.

As lead scientist, Mr. Albert pushed to change the accepted way of fixing eroded streams, van Rossum said. He believed that anchoring banks with native plants halted erosion and restored streams better than lining the banks with rock and cement.

"It's done better and better from the lessons we learned from [Mr. Albert] and that he shared," van Rossum said. "He had a huge hand in progressing the technology."

In 1987, Mr. Albert wrote Damming the Delaware: The Rise and Fall of Tocks Island Dam, about the fight over whether to build a dam at Tocks Island on the upper Delaware. He told in simple prose why he thought the dam was a bad idea, van Rossum said.

He also wrote Along the Delaware, a history of the river, with his daughter, Carrie E. Albert, in 2002. The book published postcard pictures from his own collection showing life along the waterway.

Mr. Albert "really is part of the story of the Delaware River," van Rossum said. "He inspired the people to care more about the river. Everybody who lives along and cares about the river owes him a debt of gratitude for what he was."

He wrote many articles and spoke frequently on environmental topics. He also served on the Delaware and Raritan Canal Commission.

Mr. Albert met his wife, the former Mary Harlan, at Otterbein. They celebrated their 40th anniversary in July.

The couple settled in Ewing in 1976.

Mr. Albert loved taking road trips, listening to music, building wooden canoes, playing the dulcimer and ukulele, building model railroads, and learning about transportation history, especially the history of Pennsylvania streetcars.

He also ran Albert Scientific, a small business that markets a tool he designed to classify stream pebbles.

In addition to his wife and daughter, he is survived by another daughter, Wendy Nelson; his father, Willard; a brother; a twin sister; and two grandchildren.

Services were held Monday.

Memorial donations may be made to the Delaware Riverkeeper Network by visiting www.delawareriverkeeper.org and clicking "donate and join."