DeRuyter Reservoir (also known as Tioughnioga Lake) is a man-made

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

located north of Puckerville, New York. Fish species present in the lake include smallmouth bass, pickerel,

yellow perch The yellow perch (''Perca flavescens''), commonly referred to as perch, striped perch, American perch, American river perch or preacher is a freshwater perciform fish native to much of North America. The yellow perch was described in 1814 by Samu ...

rock bass The rock bass (''Ambloplites rupestris''), also known as the rock perch, goggle-eye, red eye, and black perch, is a freshwater fish native to east-central North America. This red eyed creature is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish fa ...

black bullhead The black bullhead or black bullhead catfish (''Ameiurus melas'') is a species of bullhead catfish. Like other bullhead catfish, it has the ability to thrive in waters that are low in oxygen, brackish, turbid and/or very warm. It also has barbels ...

common sunfish The pumpkinseed (''Lepomis gibbosus''), also referred to as pond perch, common sunfish, punkie, sunfish, sunny, and kivver, is a small/medium-sized North American freshwater fish of the genus ''Lepomis'' (true sunfishes), from family Centrarch ...

, and

walleye The walleye (''Sander vitreus'', synonym ''Stizostedion vitreum''), also called the yellow pike or yellow pickerel, is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern United States. It is a North American close relat ...

. There is access by fee on the south shore at the general store. The reservoir was constructed from 1861 to 1863 to supply water for the

Erie Canal The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east-west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, vastly reducing t ...

but by the following year had proved to hold insufficient water. The dam has been worked on at least twice.

History

In 1856, an estimate for a reservoir on

Limestone Creek Limestone Creek is long with a Drainage basin, drainage area of , and is a tributary to the Tennessee River. The river rises in Lincoln County, Tennessee, Lincoln County, Tennessee, and flows south into Madison County, Alabama, Madison County, A ...

put the cost at $118,367.55. Construction of the reservoir was authorized by the Canal Board in January 1861, and it was opened in 1863. Charles A. Beach was in charge of initial construction. The upper Tioughnioga Creek was diverted into the reservoir. The initial purpose was to provide additional water to the

during the dry season. In 1862, the reservoir was "brought into use, though not completed". It was completed the following year, at a total cost of $126,026.82. In 1899, it was reported that the reservoir had of surface area and a capacity of . Located at the

headwaters The headwaters of a river or stream is the farthest place in that river or stream from its estuary or downstream confluence with another river, as measured along the course of the river. It is also known as a river's source. Definition The ...

of Limestone Creek, the reservoir could provide an additional per minute to the canal, for 100 days. Though DeRuyter Reservoir was supposed to ensure the canal remained navigable between "Lock No. 39 and a point nine miles west of Higginsville, New York", the reservoir had proved insufficient by 1864, and it was suggested that a feeder canal be constructed at Fish Creek. By 1867, it was considered that the reservoir was 'entirely inadequate' to supply the canal. In the summer of 1950, the reservoir was drained to facilitate repairs costing around $100,000. That year, ''

The Post-Standard ''The Post-Standard'' is a newspaper serving the greater Syracuse, New York, metro area. Published by Advance Publications, it and sister website Syracuse.com are among the consumer brands of Advance Media New York, alongside NYUp.com and ''The ...

'' reported that the dam was "saturated by leaks". It reportedly was up to high and wide. In 2019 the ''

Rome Sentinel Rome Sentinel is a family-owned upstate New York newspaper that, for generations, has been sourcing national and international news via cooperation with competitors. In the late 1940s they founded a local radio station, ''WRUN'' History The ...

'' reported that the dam was going to be renovated. The project was undertaken by Wesson group and completed by the end of 2020.

Gallery

File:DeRuyter Reservoir (Summer 2020, 3).jpg, A view of DeRuyter Reservoir in summer 2020, taken from the dam File:DeRuyter Reservoir (Summer 2020, 2).jpg, A view of DeRuyter Reservoir in summer 2020, taken from the dam File:DeRuyter Reservoir (back of dam, Summer 2020) (2).jpg, The back of the DeRuyter Reservoir dam in summer 2020, construction is ongoing File:Deruyter Dam (Summer 2020).jpg, The DeRuyter Reservoir dam in summer 2020

References

External links

The State of DeRuyter Reservoir, Madison County, NY and a Plan for the Management of DeRuyter Reservoir
{{authority control Lakes of New York (state) Lakes of Onondaga County, New York Lakes of Madison County, New York