Manor Kill is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

Schoharie County Schoharie County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 29,714, making it the state's fifth-least populous county. The county seat is Schoharie. "Schoharie" comes from a Mohawk word meaning "f ...

in the state of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. It begins northeast of Manorkill and flows westward before flowing into 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 ...

southeast of

Gilboa, New York Gilboa is a town in Schoharie County, New York, United States. The population was 1,215 at the 2000 census. The Town of Gilboa is in the southern part of the county and is southwest of Albany. History The town was first settled around 1760. ...

. Manor Kill Falls is located on the creek where it passes under Prattsville Road (County Route 39). Since it drains into the Schoharie Reservoir, it is part of the

New York City water supply system A combination of aqueducts, reservoirs, and tunnels supplies fresh water to New York City. With three major water systems ( Croton, Catskill, and Delaware) stretching up to away from the city, its water supply system is one of the most extens ...

Hydrology

Manor Kill stream gauge during hurricane irene

Manor Kill's watershed receives an average of precipitation annually. Most of it is concentrated in seasonal events such as summer thunderstorms, remnants of hurricanes later in the year or rain-on-snow events in springtime. This pattern of precipitation, combined with the Manor Kill watershed's slopes and low

drainage density Drainage density is a quantity used to describe physical parameters of a drainage basin. First described by Robert E. Horton, drainage density is defined as the total length of channel in a drainage basin divided by the total area, represented by t ...

, results in flashiness, as the stream and its tributaries rise and fall quickly in response to storm events. The forests that cover much of the watershed tend to mitigate this somewhat. The

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

(USGS) maintains one

stream gauge A stream gauge, streamgage or stream gauging station is a location used by hydrologists or environmental scientists to monitor and test terrestrial bodies of water. Hydrometric measurements of water level surface elevation ("stage") and/or volu ...

along Manor Kill. The station, in service since July 1986, is located upstream from the mouth, east of West Conesville, had a maximum discharge of per second on August 28, 2011, as Hurricane Irene passed through the area. It had a minimum discharge of per second on August 28–31, 1993, September 1–2, 1993 and September 6–8, 1995.

History

The village of Conesville was previously known as "Stone Bridge" because of the great arched stone bridge that stood where the present bridge crosses the Bearkill. This bridge was washed away in a flood of 1874.

References

{{Reflist Rivers of New York (state) Rivers of Schoharie County, New York