Kirk Lake (New York)

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Map of the Croton River watershed showing the Muscoot River. Kirk Lake lies above its northernmost indicated headwater, due west of Lake Mahopac Crotonrivermap.png
Map of the Croton River watershed showing the Muscoot River. Kirk Lake lies above its northernmost indicated headwater, due west of Lake Mahopac

Kirk Lake is a controlled lake in the hamlet of Mahopac in the town of Carmel in Putnam County, New York. It lies due west and sharply below considerably larger Lake Mahopac. It is one of three controlled lakes in the New York City water supply system's Croton Watershed. [1]

Contents

The outfall of Kirk Lake forms the northernmost headwaters of the Muscoot River, a tributary of the Croton River in the Croton River watershed. Approximately one-half mile south of its dam its waters are joined by a small flow from Lake Mahopac, which shortly cross into Westchester County and drain into the Amawalk Reservoir in the town of Somers.

History

Kirk Lake was originally much smaller than today. A dam was built in 1871, and substantially altered into a 220' wide, 28' high structure in 1881, [2] dramatically enlarging its impoundment area. It is unclear whether there would be any natural impoundment at all if it were removed.

The dam is a stone masonry-earth buttress. The top of the dam is 592.3 feet above Mean Sea Level. Its crest is 61 feet wide, some 28 feet above the Muscoot River. Maximum reservoir capacity is 1822 acre-feet, or .6 billion US gallons (2,300,000 m3). Kirk Lake is owned by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (which absorbed the New York City Bureau of Water Supply). Its drainage area is 2.95 square miles, and maximum discharge of its spillway and 36" overflow pipe 440 cubic feet of water per second. [2]

The normal length of Kirk Lake's pool is 0.8 miles, with a total surface area of 124 acres. Maximum pool size is 220 acres. Its normal capacity is 920 acre-feet, or .3 billion US gallons (1,100,000 m3). [2]

See also

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Muscoot Reservoir Reservoir in New York state, USA

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New Croton Reservoir Reservoir

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Croton River River in New York, United States

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Lake Gilead is a 116-acre (0.47 km2) controlled lake located in Carmel Hamlet in Putnam County, New York. Originally known as Dean's Pond, it is 0.8 miles long, has a mean depth of 43 feet (13 m), and a maximum depth of approximately 120 feet (37 m). The lake is located within the lower Hudson River basin in the Croton River watershed.

Lake Innisfree

Lake Innisfree is a man-made lake and former reservoir in the city of New Rochelle, in Westchester County, New York. The lake is located along the border of the neighboring town of Eastchester, and its eastern end abuts the Hutchinson River Parkway. The lake takes its name from the poem Lake Isle of Innisfree by W. B. Yeats.

Reservoir 3 is a man-made reservoir located in the northern portion of the city of New Rochelle along the New Rochelle - Eastchester in Westchester County, New York. Constructed in 1908, the reservoir is impounded by the New Rochelle "Reservoir 3 dam" on the Hutchinson River. The dam is of earthen construction, with a height of 30 feet and a length of 450 feet. It has an area of about 30 acres, and a capacity of about 128,000,000 gallons. Maximum discharge is 1815 cubic feet per second. Its capacity is 498 acre feet. Normal storage is 220 acre feet. It drains an area of 2.85 square miles. The reservoir is currently owned by the Westchester County Dept Of Parks and Recreation.

Controlled lake

A controlled lake is both a general and specific term to describe a body of water. In its general sense it describes a lake or reservoir which has its water level controlled by some form of dam. In the specific, it refers to three small lakes within the New York City water supply system's Croton Watershed lying within central Putnam County in the state's far southwestern corner.

Croton Watershed

[[File:Crotonrivermap.png|thumb|right|Map of the Croton River watershed. Note that this is not identical with the New York City water supply system's "Croton Watershed"{{efn|Numerous small natural lakes and ponds, as well as large Lake Mahopac, are part of the Croton River's watershed but not part of New York City’s supply system. A map of the actual Croton Watershed is found here. ]]

Croton River watershed Drainage basin in New York State, USA

[[File:Crotonrivermap.png|thumb|right|Map of the Croton River watershed. Note that this is not identical with the New York City water supply system's Croton Watershed{{efn|Numerous small natural lakes and ponds, as well as large Lake Mahopac, are part of the Croton River's watershed but not part of the NYC water supply system. A map of the actual Croton Watershed is found here. ]]

Muscoot River

The Muscoot River is a short tributary of the Croton River in Putnam and Westchester counties in the state of New York. Approximately 6 mi (9.7 km) long and running north-to-south, it lies within the Croton River watershed and is part of the New York City water supply system's Croton Watershed.

References

  1. "Map of the Croton Watershed, at New York City Department of Environmental Protection". Archived from the original on 2019-02-21. Retrieved 2019-02-27.
  2. 1 2 3 Kirk Lake Dam, Putnam County, New York, Inventory NO. N.Y. 682, Lower Hudson River Basin, Phase I Inspection Report, National Dam Safety Program, New York District Corps of Engineers, September 1981

Coordinates: 41°23′10″N73°45′00″W / 41.386°N 73.750°W / 41.386; -73.750