The Oradell 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 ...

formed by the Oradell Reservoir Dam on the

Hackensack River The Hackensack River is a river, approximately 45 miles (72 km) long, in the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, emptying into Newark Bay, a back chamber of New York Harbor. The watershed of the river includes part of the subur ...

Bergen County, New Jersey Bergen County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of New Jersey.borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

of Oradell, but the reservoir also extends across the borders of the nearby boroughs of

Haworth Haworth () is a village in the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, in the Pennines, south-west of Keighley, west of Bradford and east of Colne in Lancashire. The surrounding areas include Oakworth and Oxenhope. Nearby villages includ ...

, Emerson, Closter, and Harrington Park. The reservoir is fed by the Upper Hackensack River, the

Pascack Brook Pascack Brook is a tributary of the Hackensack River in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. History At least one late 18th-century map calls the brook "Great Pascack River." Its tributary Musquapsink Brook is shown as "Little Pascack River. ...

and

Dwars Kill The Dwars Kill (also known as Dwarskill or Dwarskill Creek) is a tributary of the Hackensack River (Oradell Reservoir) in Bergen County, New Jersey, in the United States. The name is taken from the Dutch language and can be translated as "Cross Cr ...

. The reservoir feeds the Lower Hackensack River via the Oradell Dam. Upstream from the Oradell Reservoir are three other reservoirs:

Woodcliff Lake Reservoir Woodcliff Lake is the name of a reservoir in Woodcliff Lake and portions of Hillsdale and Park Ridge, in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. It was created circa 1903 by damming the Pascack Brook and is also fed by the Bear Brook which ...

, also in Bergen County;

Lake DeForest Lake DeForest, also called DeForest Lake, is a reservoir in Clarkstown, New York, created in 1956 by impounding the Hackensack River, which is a principal part of the water supply for Rockland County, New York and Northern New Jersey, mainly Bergen ...

Rockland County Rockland County is the southernmost county on the west side of the Hudson River in the U.S. state of New York. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. It is about from the Bronx at their closest points. The county's population, as of th ...

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 * '' ...

; and

Lake Tappan Lake Tappan is a reservoir impounded by the Tappan Dam on the Hackensack River, straddling the border between the U.S. states of New Jersey and New York. Within New Jersey, the lake traverses the border separating the municipalities of River Val ...

, traversing the borders of Bergen and Rockland counties across the state line. The Oradell Dam was constructed to supply potable water to northern New Jersey and has essentially separated the Hackensack River into two distinct components: the upper river (above the dam) and the lower river (below the dam). There is only one bridge to cross the reservoir, which carries CR 502 (Old Hook Road) over from Harrington Park to Closter. It is located in the northern part of the lake and is very important because it saves drivers from having to drive around the reservoir, avoiding the need to drive through towns and residential neighborhoods. The reservoir is transversed by a

CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...

bridge carrying crude oil.

History

Construction on the Oradell Reservoir began in 1901 by the dredging of a mill pond. The mill pond dam was replaced in 1911 by a low timber-crib dam that increased reservoir storage. In 1921, a high concrete Oradell Reservoir Dam was built to expand reservoir storage even more. The reservoir was completed in 1923."The Hackensack Water Company 1869-1969", Adrian C. Leiby in collaboration with Nancy Wichman, Bergen County Historical Society, River Edge, NJ, 1969. The Oradell Reservoir and its tributaries are currently protected with Category 1 water purity status in New Jersey. The reservoir is managed by United Water New Jersey, a unit of

Suez North America Suez North America, founded as the Hackensack Water Company in 1869 and later named United Water, is an American water service company headquartered in Paramus, New Jersey. It owns and operates 16 water and waste water utilities, and operates 90 ...

, a private utility. It provides drinking water for an estimated 750,000 residents of Bergen and

Hudson Hudson may refer to: People * Hudson (given name) * Hudson (surname) * Henry Hudson, English explorer * Hudson (footballer, born 1986), Hudson Fernando Tobias de Carvalho, Brazilian football right-back * Hudson (footballer, born 1988), Hudso ...

counties. Because of its environment, the Oradell Reservoir area is very susceptible to flooding. During many storms, such as

Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as ''Superstorm Sandy'') was an extremely destructive and strong Atlantic hurricane, as well as the largest Atlantic hurricane on record as measured by diameter, with tropical-storm-force winds spann ...

in 2012 and

Hurricane Ida Hurricane Ida was a deadly and extremely destructive Category 4 Atlantic hurricane in 2021 that became the second-most damaging and intense hurricane to make landfall in the U.S. state of Louisiana on record, behind Hurricane Katrina in 200 ...

in 2021, the reservoir as well as connecting streams flooded the area and caused many roads to flood and be closed. The bridge that carries Old Hook Road ( CR 502) across is considerably low to the surface, and so is often flooded, resulting in closures to the road.

References

External links

Suez North America
* {{authority control Closter, New Jersey Harrington Park, New Jersey Oradell, New Jersey Bodies of water of Bergen County, New Jersey Reservoirs in New Jersey Hackensack River Dams in New Jersey Dams completed in 1923 United Water Crossings of the Hackensack River 1923 establishments in New Jersey

History

See also

References

External links