Wanaque Reservoir 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 within Wanaque and Ringwood,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

along the

Wanaque River The Wanaque River ( Native American for "place of the sassafras") is a tributary of the Pequannock River in Passaic County in northern New Jersey in the United States.Gertler, Edward. ''Garden State Canoeing'', Seneca Press, 2002. Once known as ...

. The reservoir came into being in 1928 by the construction of the Raymond Dam along the river in Wanaque. Besides the Wanaque River, the reservoir receives water from two diversions: the Pompton Lakes intake, which takes water from the

Ramapo River The Ramapo River is a tributary of the Pompton River, approximately 30 mi (48 km) long, in southern New York and northern New Jersey in the United States. Course The Ramapo river rises in Round Lake, a small freshwater lake in the To ...

, and the Two Bridges intake, which takes water from the Pompton River. It is the second largest reservoir in New Jersey by volume, after Round Valley Reservoir. It is the second largest body of water in New Jersey by area, after

Lake Hopatcong Lake Hopatcong is the largest freshwater body in New Jersey, United States, about in area. Located from the Delaware River and from Manhattan, New York City, the lake forms part of the border between Sussex and Morris counties in the state's ...

Construction

Construction of the Wanaque Reservoir represented a significant achievement in enabling the supply of potable water to local areas that didn't have safe drinking water sources. The project took quite an extensive time. After eight years of construction, water was delivered to customers for the first time in 1930. Upon completion, the Wanaque Reservoir supplied water to several member municipalities including Bloomfield, Clifton, Glen Ridge, Kearny, Montclair, Newark, Passaic, and Paterson. A major feature that came with the construction of Wanaque Reservoir was the West Brook Road Bridge. The bridge was constructed to carry the re-located West Brook Road across the Wanaque Reservoir. Construction of the West Brook Road Bridge began in 1926 and it was opened to traffic in 1928. The bridge was to be rebuilt for safety reasons and the new bridge was completed in early 2018.

References

External links

Wanaque Reservoir Drought 2016
{{authority control Lakes of Passaic County, New Jersey Reservoirs in New Jersey Ringwood, New Jersey