The Kensico Reservoir is a
reservoir
A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation.
Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...
spanning the towns of
Armonk
Armonk is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the town of North Castle, located in Westchester County, New York, United States.
The corporate headquarters of IBM are located in Armonk.
Geography and climate
As of the 2010 census, Ar ...
(
North Castle
North Castle is a town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 11,841 at the 2010 census. It has three hamlets: Armonk, Banksville, and North White Plains.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the t ...
) and
Valhalla
In Norse mythology Valhalla (;) is the anglicised name for non, Valhǫll ("hall of the slain").Orchard (1997:171–172) It is described as a majestic hall located in Asgard and presided over by the god Odin. Half of those who die in combat e ...
(
Mount Pleasant), New York, located 3 miles (5 km) north of
White Plains. It was formed by the original earth and gravel Kensico Dam constructed in 1885, which impounded waters from the
Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
and
Byram rivers.
In 1917, a new
masonry dam
Masonry dams are dams made out of masonrymainly stone and brick, sometimes joined with mortar. They are either the gravity or the arch-gravity type. The largest masonry dam in the World is Nagarjunasagar Dam , Andhra Pradesh & Telangana, in Indi ...
was completed, replacing the old dam and expanding the water supply by bringing water from the
Catskill Mountains
The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined as those areas c ...
over a distance of more than 100 miles.
The reservoir mainly serves to store waters received from the Catskill Mountains west of the Hudson River. Along with the
West Branch Reservoir
The West Branch Reservoir is a reservoir in the New York City water supply system. Formed by impounding the upper reaches of the West Branch of the Croton River, it is located in the Putnam County, New York, towns of Kent, and Carmel, about ...
and
Boyds Corner Reservoir
The Boyds Corner Reservoir is a small reservoir in Putnam County, New York. It is in the town of Kent, New York, and is about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of New York City. It is the northernmost reservoir in the Croton River watershed, but is n ...
, it is one of three reservoirs within the Catskill/Delaware system outside the
Catskill Mountains
The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined as those areas c ...
region. The other two reservoirs are the
Hillview Reservoir
The Hillview Reservoir is a storage reservoir in southeastern Yonkers, New York. It was built within a six-year period from 1909–1915 by the New York City Board of Water Supply to receive water from the newly constructed Catskill Aqueduct, w ...
and the
Jerome Park Reservoir
The Jerome Park Reservoir is a reservoir located in Jerome Park, a neighborhood in the North Bronx, New York City. The reservoir is surrounded by DeWitt Clinton High School, the Bronx High School of Science, Lehman College, and Walton High Scho ...
.
The Kensico Reservoir also hosts fishing and boating recreation. Every year, the reservoir is stocked with over 2,000
brown trout
The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a European species of salmonid fish that has been widely introduced into suitable environments globally. It includes purely freshwater populations, referred to as the riverine ecotype, ''Salmo trutta'' morph ...
. In April 2016, the Kensico Reservoir was stocked with 8,620 brown trout long.
History
As the population of New York City grew in the 19th century, so did the need for water. The first use of water from Westchester County came from the old Croton Dam (forming what was called Croton Lake), which was completed in 1842. In the 1880s, the City faced increasing demands for water and sought to enlarge the
Croton Reservoir to meet that need. The enlargement of the Croton Reservoir (with the construction of the
New Croton Dam
The New Croton Dam (also known as Cornell Dam) is a dam forming the New Croton Reservoir, both parts of the New York City water supply system. It stretches across the Croton River near Croton-on-Hudson, New York, about north of New York City.
...
and the forming of the
New Croton Reservoir
The New Croton Reservoir is a reservoir in Westchester County, New York, part of the New York City water supply system lying approximately north of New York City. It is the collecting point for water from all reservoirs in the Croton Watershed.
...
) was completed in 1906 as a part of a system of reservoirs designed to bring water from Putnam and Westchester Counties (the Croton Watershed) to New York City.
The village of
Kensico, New York
Kensico is a former hamlet in central Westchester County, New York. It was relocated and flooded to build the Kensico Reservoir, one of the central storage reservoirs for the New York City Reservoir system.
Neighboring towns and hamlets included ...
, was named in 1849 for a
Siwanoy
The Siwanoy () were an Indigenous American band of Wappinger people, who lived in Long Island Sound along the coasts of what are now The Bronx, Westchester County, New York, and Fairfield County, Connecticut. They were one of the western bands of ...
Indian chief, Cokenseko, who had sold most of the land surrounding White Plains to English settlers in the 1600s. In 1885, the old Kensico Dam was built south of the village of
Kensico, NY
Kensico is a former hamlet in central Westchester County, New York. It was relocated and flooded to build the Kensico Reservoir, one of the central storage reservoirs for the New York City Reservoir system.
Neighboring towns and hamlets included ...
as an additional source of water for New York City. The earth and gravel dam formed a small lake from water supplied by the Bronx River and the
Byram River
The Byram River is a river approximately in length,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 in southeast New York and southwestern Connecticut in the United States ...
, but it was still not enough for the ever-increasing population of New York City. A reservoir was needed that would contain waters from various new reservoirs and act as a holding tank for distribution to New York City.
Kensico was surrounded by hills that came to a natural V-shape, making it an ideal area to hold a vast amount of water. To the south of Kensico was Rye Pond and Little Rye Pond in
Harrison, New York
Harrison is a town in Westchester County, New York, United States, northeast of Manhattan. The population was 28,218 at the 2020 census.
History
Harrison was established in 1696 by a patent granted by the British government to John Harrison a ...
, which would eventually form part of the new reservoir. A nearby quarry in Harrison bordering Cranberry Lake, provided the necessary materials for building the new dam. Although Kensico had a population of approximately 200, it was home to churches, hotels and a
railroad station
A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing such ...
.
In 1905, legislation was passed by New York State to allow money to be raised for the building of the Kensico Reservoir. The next year, final planning by the state was approved, and preliminary surveys were started. Seventeen miles of railroad track were privately built to carry materials from quarries at nearby Cranberry and Silver Lakes to the dam site; this spur railroad and a highway network had to be built to move supplies into place. A camp for the workers and their families had to be constructed, along with facilities such as schools for their children.
To prepare for the dam construction, each individual lot of land was condemned and appraised, and the owner was paid a "fair value" for the land. Many of the families had to move to such surrounding communities as
Armonk
Armonk is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the town of North Castle, located in Westchester County, New York, United States.
The corporate headquarters of IBM are located in Armonk.
Geography and climate
As of the 2010 census, Ar ...
, Harrison, Valhalla, and White Plains. The village of Kensico was then flooded to make way for the reservoir.
After the
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...
, the road spanning the top of the Kensico Dam was closed to all traffic for fear of an attempt to destroy the dam. On September 11, 2005, a 9/11 memorial was dedicated in the dam plaza to the 111
Westchester County
Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population o ...
residents who died in the attack. In May 2012, the roadway was reopened to pedestrian and bicycle traffic.
On July 12, 2018, the
New York City Department of Environmental Protection
The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is the department of the government of New York City that manages the city's water supply and works to reduce air, noise, and hazardous materials pollution.
Under a 1.3 billion do ...
(DEP) press office announced plans for a Kensico-Eastview Connection Project. The project mainly involves constructing an approximately 2 mile long tunnel between the Kensico Reservoir and the nearby Catskill/Delaware Ultraviolet Light Disinfection (CDUV) Facility.
Dam construction
![Kensicodamconstruction](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/Kensicodamconstruction.jpg)
Before constructing the existing Kensico Dam, the old Kensico Dam had to be removed; this began in 1911.
The construction of the dam began in 1913 and was concluded in 1917—three years ahead of schedule—at a cost of more than $15,000,000. The dam is 1,843 feet (562 m) long. It stands above its foundation and contains of masonry—as much masonry as the Egyptians used to build some of the pyramids. In one month, 2.5 million cubic yards of
concrete
Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...
were poured into blocks, which had to cure for three months before being swung onto the rising hyperbolic pile of dam. The dam is able to hold back about of water.
Frank E. Winsor was the engineer in charge of construction of Kensico as well as
Hillview Reservoir
The Hillview Reservoir is a storage reservoir in southeastern Yonkers, New York. It was built within a six-year period from 1909–1915 by the New York City Board of Water Supply to receive water from the newly constructed Catskill Aqueduct, w ...
and of the
Catskill Aqueduct
The Catskill Aqueduct, part of the New York City water supply system, brings water from the Catskill Mountains to Yonkers where it connects to other parts of the system.
History
Construction commenced in 1907. The aqueduct proper was completed i ...
.
New York City’s main contractor built a work camp at nearby Valhalla for the 1,500 men who worked on the dam at the height of construction. The water supply board created a mounted
police force
The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...
to keep order. Crews were largely made up of Italian immigrants, who began the long task of digging straight down to a depth of to reach solid rock with no water-bearing seams. This entailed months of blasting and a number of fatal accidents. As the aqueduct neared completion in 1913, the work gangs at Kensico began laying the first of the concrete bricks of which the dam is built.
The tremendous influx of workers provided a period of prosperity for the surrounding area. New stores, rooming houses, hotels, restaurants and saloons met the needs of the workers and their families. Many of the construction families remained in the area after completion of the dam, contributing to the growth and character of Valhalla and its environs. The Kensico Reservoir was acquired as parkland in 1963 from the New York City Watershed Commission and remains the property of the DEP. Kensico Dam Plaza is a Westchester County Park.
Water sources
![Kensico dam](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/Kensico_dam.jpg)
The reservoir is the collecting point for the water from all six reservoirs in the Catskill Mountains: the
Ashokan Reservoir
The Ashokan Reservoir (; Iroquoian languages, Iroquois for "place of fish") is a reservoir (water), reservoir in Ulster County, New York. It is at the eastern end of the Catskill Park, and is one of several in the region created to New York City ...
, the
Cannonsville Reservoir
The Cannonsville Reservoir is a reservoir in the New York City water supply system in Delaware County, New York. It was formed by construction of the Cannonsville Dam on its west end, which impounded over half of the West Branch of the Delaware ...
, the
Neversink Reservoir
Neversink Reservoir is a reservoir in the New York City water supply system. It is located in the Catskill Mountain town of Neversink in Sullivan County, New York, 75 miles (120.6 km) northwest of the City.
It is fed by the Neversink River, ...
, the
Pepacton Reservoir
The Pepacton Reservoir, also known as the Downsville Reservoir, is a reservoir in Delaware County, New York on the East Branch of the Delaware River in the Catskill Mountains of New York. Part of the New York City water supply system, it was fo ...
, the
Rondout Reservoir
Rondout Reservoir is part of New York City's water supply network. It is located 75 miles (120 km) northwest of the city in the Catskill Mountains, near the southern end of Catskill Park, split between the towns of Wawarsing in Ulster County ...
, and the
Schoharie Reservoir
The Schoharie Reservoir is a reservoir in the Catskill Mountains of New York State that was created to be one of 19 reservoirs that supplies New York City with water. It was created by impounding Schoharie Creek. Portions of it lie in the towns of ...
. It also receives water from the
Croton Falls Reservoir
The Croton Falls Reservoir is a reservoir in the New York City water supply system in the Putnam County, New York townships of Carmel, and Southeast, roughly north of New York City. Part of the system's Croton Watershed, it was formed by impou ...
, the
Muscoot Reservoir
The Muscoot Reservoir is a reservoir in the New York City water supply system in northern Westchester County, New York, located directly north of the village of Katonah. Part of the system's Croton Watershed, it is 25 miles (40 kilometres) north ...
, the New Croton Reservoir, and the West Branch Reservoir through the Catskill and
Delaware
Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...
aqueducts, along with water from
Rye Lake.
The resulting body of water has a drainage basin of only , and holds of water at full capacity. The reservoir itself provides only 2% of NYC's water supply; the rest of the water comes from the reservoirs to which it connects. The water in the reservoir either provides NYC with water, or it travels down the spillway at the southernmost dam, and continues down the rest of the Bronx River, eventually flowing to the East River.
The water that does supply New York City travels down either the Catskill Aqueduct or the Delaware Aqueduct. If it goes down the Delaware Aqueduct, it will pass through
Yonkers
Yonkers () is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. Developed along the Hudson River, it is the third most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City and Buffalo. The population of Yonkers was 211,569 as enu ...
, and flow through the
Hillview Reservoir
The Hillview Reservoir is a storage reservoir in southeastern Yonkers, New York. It was built within a six-year period from 1909–1915 by the New York City Board of Water Supply to receive water from the newly constructed Catskill Aqueduct, w ...
. It then continues through
The Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
,
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
,
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, and then stops at
Staten Island
Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...
. If it flows through the Catskill Aqueduct, It will stop at the Hillview Reservoir, and continue on through The Bronx,
Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
, Brooklyn, and then stop at Staten Island.
Dam restoration
In 2005, the DEP commenced a $31.4 million project to rehabilitate the Kensico Dam. The rehabilitation project consisted of reconstructing the colonnades at the ends of the dam; cleaning and repairing all stone masonry surfaces on the dam; reconstructing the lower pavilions; reconstructing the dam’s downstream terrace; reconstructing the spillway and spillway channel; cleaning the spillway discharge pipe; cleaning the internal galleries; installing new lighting and doors; reconstructing the Upper Gate Chamber, Lower Valve Chamber and Maintenance House; and performing grading and landscaping.
Fishing
Kensico Reservoir sustains an active population of gamefish, supplemented by stocking, including
brown trout
The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a European species of salmonid fish that has been widely introduced into suitable environments globally. It includes purely freshwater populations, referred to as the riverine ecotype, ''Salmo trutta'' morph ...
,
lake trout
The lake trout (''Salvelinus namaycush'') is a freshwater char living mainly in lakes in northern North America. Other names for it include mackinaw, namaycush, lake char (or charr), touladi, togue, and grey trout. In Lake Superior, it can also ...
,
smallmouth bass,
largemouth bass
The largemouth bass (''Micropterus salmoides'') is a carnivorous freshwater gamefish in the Centrarchidae ( sunfish) family, a species of black bass native to the eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada and northern Mexico, but ...
,
perch
Perch is a common name for fish of the genus ''Perca'', freshwater gamefish belonging to the family Percidae. The perch, of which three species occur in different geographical areas, lend their name to a large order of vertebrates: the Percif ...
, and
grass pickerel
The American pickerels are two subspecies of ''Esox americanus'', a medium-sized species of North American freshwater predatory fish belonging to the pike family (genus '' Esox'' in family Esocidae of order Esociformes):
* Redfin pickerel, ...
. The size and depth of the reservoir allow lake trout in particular to thrive. Shore fishing is practiced in many areas, and boating is restricted to
Department of Environmental Conservation licensed and inspected aluminum rowboats. No motor-boats are permitted on the reservoir, nor are recreational watercraft such as kayaks, rafts, or canoes.
In April 2020, the reservoir was stocked with 7,360 brown trout fingerlings. The reservoir was formerly stocked with lake trout, however, this program was discontinued after it was determined they had established a sustainable breeding population.
Kensico Dam Plaza
The Kensico Dam plaza is a plaza located at the foot of the dam. Modern use of the plaza is as a public park. Historically, Westchester County's Department of Parks has hosted several community-wide events, including outdoor screenings throughout the summer and early autumn, and a Fourth of July celebration with fireworks, food trucks, and live music. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, it also sponsored "Winter Wonderland," a winter-holiday-themed drive-through light experience.
The plaza also provides opportunities for recreational activities, including a playground, large lawn, gravel paths for walking and biking, and a hiking trail running from the plaza-level to the top of the dam. Placards posted throughout the plaza encompass its history.
In 2014, an electrical system upgrade added permanent park lighting, allowing the plaza to remain open after dark.
The plaza is also home to
The Rising, a memorial dedicated to victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks who were from Westchester County.
This memorial displays the names of the victims on the granite surrounding the main structure. The main structure of the memorial is made of steel rods that come together and point to the sky. Visitors can interact with the memorial by going inside the structure. The Rising is where the annual 9/11 commemoration takes place at Kensico Dam plaza, a ceremony honoring the Westchester residents who lost their lives that day.
See also
*
Trial of Joseph Spell
The trial of Joseph Spell, ''State of Connecticut v. Joseph Spell'', was a 1940 legal case in which an African-American chauffeur was accused of raping Eleanor Strubing, a wealthy white woman who was his boss. The accusations and trial made sensati ...
References
External links
WestchesterCounty official website for Kensico Dam Plaza
Short film (1920s)containing views of the Kensico Dam
Photos and historyof the Kensico Dam
{{authority control
Reservoirs in Westchester County, New York
Reservoirs in New York (state)
Catskill/Delaware watersheds
Dams in New York (state)
Protected areas of Westchester County, New York
Mount Pleasant, New York
1885 establishments in New York (state)