The New Croton Reservoir is a reservoir in

Westchester County, New York 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 ...

, 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 exte ...

lying approximately north of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. It is the collecting point for water from all reservoirs in the

Croton Watershed The Croton Watershed is the New York City water supply system's name for its southernmost watershed and its infrastructure,{{efn, Including dams, spillways, tunnels, pumps, and related mechanical components not part of a hydrological drainage bas ...

History

In 1842 the

Croton River The Croton River ( ) is a river in southern New York with three principal tributaries: the West Branch, Middle Branch, and East Branch. Their waters, all part of the New York City water supply system, join downstream from the Croton Falls R ...

, a tributary of the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between Ne ...

, was impounded by the Old Croton Dam to create Croton Lake.

's first source of water beyond its city limits, its waters traveled by aqueduct to the

Croton Distributing Reservoir The Croton Distributing Reservoir, also known as the Murray Hill Reservoir, was an above-ground reservoir at 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Covering and holding , it supplied the city with drinking water ...

in midtown

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 ...

. In 1900, the workers (primarily Italian immigrants, Irish immigrants and

African-Americans African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of enslav ...

) constructing the dam went on strike to protest unfair wages. The workers were paid the standard wage for incredibly hard and dangerous work. The New York State National Guard was called in to protect replacement workers and violence ensued. In 1905 the New Croton Dam was completed, expanding the existing impoundment into the New Croton Reservoir, then the largest in the Croton Watershed, and thus one of the largest in the

to that point. It has a 57 square mile (148 km²)

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

, is approximately long, and can hold of water at full capacity. Its waters flow into the New Croton Aqueduct, then into 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 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 ...

. Water from the Jerome Park Reservoir is normally distributed to parts of

, and western

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 ...

Gallery

File:CrotonReservoir.jpg, Perspective of the reservoir File:CrotonReservoirSystem.JPG, Water treatment at the reservoir File:CrotonReservoirPlaque.JPG, Plaque at the New Croton Aqueduct File:CrotonReservoirBridge.JPG, AMVETS Memorial Bridge - one of several bridges transversing the reservoir

References

{{authority control Croton Watershed Protected areas of Westchester County, New York Reservoirs in Westchester County, New York Reservoirs in New York (state) Somers, New York 1842 establishments in New York (state)

History

Gallery

See also

References