Schoharie Reservoir

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Schoharie Reservoir
Schoharie Reservoir.jpg
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Schoharie Reservoir
Location within New York
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Schoharie Reservoir
Schoharie Reservoir (the United States)
Location Catskill Mountains, Schoharie / Delaware / Greene counties, New York, United States
Coordinates 42°22′16″N74°26′23″W / 42.3712°N 74.4398°W / 42.3712; -74.4398
Type Reservoir
Primary inflows Schoharie Creek, Manor Kill
Primary outflows Schoharie Creek, Shandaken Tunnel
Basin  countriesUnited States

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 Conesville and Gilboa in Schoharie County, Roxbury in Delaware County, and Prattsville in Greene County.

Contents

History

View of Schoharie Reservoir Schoharie Reservoir2.jpg
View of Schoharie Reservoir

Even after the Ashokan Reservoir was created as New York City's thirteenth reservoir and the Kensico Reservoir was completed soon after to store its water, the water supply was still insufficient for the city's high population. A search for a new location led to the village of Gilboa, New York, which was purchased and its residents evacuated through condemnation.

Site preparation destroyed most of the area's trees and buildings up to the water line. The dam was built during the early 1920s out of stone bricks. Flooding was completed in 1924. The village of Gilboa was relocated to the west; traces of it can still be seen during a drought. [1]

The resulting reservoir, the northernmost of the New York City system, is located 36 miles (58 km) southwest of Albany and roughly 110 miles (180 km) northwest of New York City. It lies at the southern end of Schoharie County, the northeastern end of Delaware County, and at the northwestern end of Greene County. It neighbors such towns as Gilboa, Prattsville, and Conesville. It is an impounded portion of the Schoharie Creek, a tributary of the Mohawk River, itself a tributary of the Hudson River.

The resulting reservoir consists of a single 6-mile (9.6-km) basin, and holds 17.6 billion US gallons (67,000,000 m3) of water at full capacity, making it one of the smaller New York City reservoirs. Put into service in 1926, [2] the Schoharie Reservoir provides nine million people with approximately 15-16 percent of their annual water supply needs. It is also the smaller of the two reservoirs which, along with the Ashokan Reservoir, in Olive, New York, make up the New York City Catskill Water System. Overflow from the Schoharie Reservoir tops the Gilboa Dam and runs back into Schoharie Creek, ultimately flowing into the Hudson River.

Water from the Schoharie Reservoir flows to New York City through the 16-mile (26 km)-long Shandaken Tunnel, and empties into the Esopus Creek at Shandaken. Another 11 miles (18 km) down the Esopus it empties into the Ashokan Reservoir. From there water enters the 92-mile (147 km) Catskill Aqueduct to the Kensico Reservoir, thence to New York City.

Gilboa Dam

The Gilboa Dam overflowing Gilboa Dam.jpg
The Gilboa Dam overflowing

The 120-foot (37 m) high concrete and stone brick Gilboa Dam 42°23′30″N74°26′59″W / 42.39167°N 74.44972°W / 42.39167; -74.44972 in Schoharie County was completed in 1926. [2] Over time the dam eroded to where it posed a potential threat to those living downstream. In December 2005, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection began a $24 million project to bring the dam up to New York State safety standards. Beginning in December 2006 eighty post-tensioned anchoring cables were installed through holes drilled in the dam into bedrock below, bringing it up to state standards. During this overhaul, residents nearby complained that their tap water had turned a brownish color, perhaps due to the intense drilling into the earth to anchor the dam.

Schoharie County planned and authorized the Gilboa Dam Failure Outdoor Warning System, which was installed by Mid-State Communications. [3] New York City paid for the system consisting of twenty sirens stretching from the Town of Gilboa to the Town of Esperance, ending at the Montgomery County line. [4]

A larger, full-scale overhaul of the Gilboa Dam began in the summer of 2011 after five years of planning. [5] Estimated to cost $350 million, the project will add significant mass to the dam, install floodgates, and include a large tunnel bypass allowing water to be released safely from the reservoir into Schoharie Creek. A citizens advocacy group, called Dam Concerned Citizens, Inc., was formed to monitor structural vulnerabilities in order to ensure the safety of those living downstream. [6]

On August 28, 2011, after receiving as much as 12 inches (300 mm) of rainfall from Hurricane Irene, the Gilboa Dam was placed in a level B situation. [7] Though the dam was intact, the heavy upstream rainfall from the hurricane prompted officials to issue an evacuation order for downstream residents, including a mandatory evacuation of the towns of Middleburgh and Schoharie. The evacuation order was due to the heavy rainfall and not due to a dam failure. [8] After a minor earthquake on August 27, 2011 was recorded in the region and in response to the 2011 Virginia earthquake which occurred on August 23, 2011 and was felt as far north as Canada, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered an infrastructure inspection which included the Gilboa Dam. [9] Governor Cuomo visited the dam on the morning of August 28, 2011 to report that officials had discovered no impacts to the dam from recent seismic activity. [10]

Recreation

No motor boats are allowed on the reservoir; non-motorized boats that have been steam-cleaned and that have required tags may be used in the reservoir during the summer. [11]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schoharie County, New York</span> County in New York, United States

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 "floating driftwood." Schoharie County is part of the Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olive, New York</span> Town in New York, United States

Olive is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States. The town is west of Kingston, New York and is inside the Catskill Park. The population was 4,226 at the 2020 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catskill Park</span> Nature preserve in southeastern New York, U.S.

The Catskill Park is in the Catskill Mountains in New York in the United States. It consists of 700,000 acres of land inside a Blue Line in four counties: Delaware, Greene, Sullivan, and Ulster. As of 2005, 287,500 acres (116,300 ha) or 41 percent of the land within, is owned by the state as part of the Forest Preserve; it is managed by the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). Another 5% is owned by New York City to protect four of the city's reservoirs in the region that lie partially within the park and their respective watersheds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schoharie Creek</span> River in New York, United States

Schoharie Creek is a river in New York that flows north 93 miles (150 km) from the foot of Indian Head Mountain in the Catskills through the Schoharie Valley to the Mohawk River. It is twice impounded north of Prattsville to create New York City's Schoharie Reservoir and the Blenheim-Gilboa Power Project.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ashokan Reservoir</span> New York City reservoir in Catskill Mountains

The Ashokan Reservoir is a reservoir in Ulster County, New York. It is at the eastern end of the Catskill Park, and is one of several in the region created to provide the City of New York with water. It is the city's deepest reservoir at 190 feet (58 m) near the dam at the former site of Bishop Falls.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Esopus Creek</span> Tributary of the Hudson River in the Catskill region of New York state

Esopus Creek is a 65.4-mile-long (105.3 km) tributary of the Hudson River that drains the east-central Catskill Mountains in the U.S. state of New York. From its source at Winnisook Lake on the slopes of Slide Mountain, the Catskills' highest peak, it flows across Ulster County to the Hudson at Saugerties. Many tributaries extend its watershed into neighboring Greene County and a small portion of Delaware County. Midway along its length, it is impounded at Olive Bridge to create Ashokan Reservoir, the first of several built in the Catskills as part of New York City's water supply system. Its own flow is supplemented 13 miles (21 km) above the reservoir by the Shandaken Tunnel, which carries water from the city's Schoharie Reservoir into the creek.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York State Route 28A</span> State highway in Ulster County, New York, US

New York State Route 28A (NY 28A) is an east–west state highway in Ulster County, New York, in the United States. It extends for nearly 20 miles (32 km) along the south side of Ashokan Reservoir in Catskill Park, serving as a southerly alternate route of NY 28 through the area. Many of the communities along its length, such as West Shokan and Olivebridge, are relocated versions of those condemned for the reservoir's construction. Near Olivebridge, NY 28A intersects NY 213, the only other state route that NY 28A intersects aside from its parent, NY 28.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York State Route 990V</span> Highway in New York

New York State Route 990V (NY 990V) is an east–west reference route in Schoharie County, New York, in the United States. It extends for 6.15 miles (9.90 km) from an intersection with NY 30 in the town of Gilboa to a junction with County Route 18 (CR 18) in the town of Conesville, where the road continues east as CR 3. Reference routes in New York are typically unsigned; however, NY 990V is fully signed with touring route markers. The road is a remnant of New York State Route 342, a route assigned as part of the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York. The NY 342 designation was removed in the late 1940s; however, its former routing from Gilboa to Conesville remained a state highway and became NY 990V when the modern reference route system in New York was created.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brown's Station, New York</span> Village in United States of America

Brown's Station was a hamlet in the Esopus Valley of southeastern Ulster County, New York, United States. It was submerged by the waters of the Ashokan Reservoir, an artificial lake built between 1906 and 1915 to supply fresh water to New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pepacton Reservoir</span> Reservoir in Delaware County, New York

The Pepacton Reservoir, also known as the Downsville Reservoir, is a reservoir in Delaware County, New York on the East Branch of the Delaware River in the Catskill Mountains of New York. Part of the New York City water supply system, it was formed by the construction of Downsville Dam, and impounds over one-quarter of the East Branch's flow.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cannonsville Reservoir</span> Reservoir in Delaware County, New York

The Cannonsville Reservoir is a reservoir in the New York City water supply system in Delaware County, New York. It was formed by construction of the Cannonsville Dam on its west end, which impounded over half of the West Branch of the Delaware River. Lying on the western part of the Delaware Watershed, it is the westernmost of New York City's reservoirs. It was placed in service in 1964, and is the most recently constructed New York City-owned reservoir.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catskill Aqueduct</span>

The Catskill Aqueduct, part of the New York City water supply system, brings water from the Catskill Mountains to Yonkers where it connects to other parts of the system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kensico Reservoir</span> Reservoir in New York, United States

The Kensico Reservoir is a reservoir spanning the towns of Armonk and Valhalla, New York, located 3 miles (5 km) north of White Plains. It was formed by the original earth and gravel Kensico Dam constructed in 1885, which impounded waters from the Bronx and Byram rivers. In 1917, a new masonry dam was completed, replacing the old dam and expanding the water supply by bringing water from the Catskill Mountains over a distance of more than 100 miles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shandaken Tunnel</span>

The Shandaken Tunnel is an aqueduct in Eastern New York State, part of the New York City water supply system. It was constructed between 1916 and 1924. The tunnel starts in Gilboa, New York at the Schoharie Reservoir, which is in the counties of Schoharie, Delaware, and Greene. The water flows south towards the Esopus Creek in Ulster County. It finally empties into a man-made pool in Allaben, New York, within the Town of Shandaken, and enters Esopus Creek there.

The Gilboa-Conesville Central School District is a small, rural school located in the Northern Catskill Mountains. There are about 375 students in grades K–12 housed in one building in Gilboa, Schoharie County New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wittenberg Mountain</span> Mountain in the United States

Wittenberg Mountain, locally "the Wittenberg," is a mountain located in Ulster County, New York. The mountain is part of the Burroughs Range of the Catskill Mountains. Wittenberg is flanked to the southwest by Cornell Mountain and to the northeast by Terrace Mountain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deep Notch</span>

Deep Notch, sometimes West Kill Notch, or Echo Notch, is a mountain pass in Lexington, New York, United States. It divides two Catskill peaks, both subpeaks of high peaks of the range. The narrow groove between the steep, high slopes on either side is traversed by state highway NY 42 and the Shandaken Tunnel, part of the New York City water supply system. It has been called "striking" and "a marvel of grandeur and beauty".

East Kill, a 16-mile-long (26 km) tributary of Schoharie Creek, flows across the town of Jewett, New York, United States, from its source on Stoppel Point. Ultimately its waters reach the Hudson River via the Mohawk. Since it drains into the Schoharie upstream of Schoharie Reservoir, it is part of the New York City water supply system. East Kill drains the southern slopes of the Blackhead Mountains, which include Thomas Cole Mountain, Black Dome, and Blackhead Mountain, the fourth-, third-, and fifth-highest peaks in the Catskills, respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Batavia Kill (Schoharie Creek tributary)</span> River in New York, United States

Batavia Kill is a 21-mile-long (34 km) tributary of Schoharie Creek, that flows across the towns of Windham, Ashland and Prattsville in the U.S. state of New York. Its waters reach the Hudson River via Schoharie Creek and the Mohawk River. Since it drains into the Schoharie upstream of Schoharie Reservoir, it is part of the New York City water supply system. From the source to Maplecrest, Batavia Kill drains the northern slopes of the Blackhead Mountains, which include Thomas Cole Mountain, Black Dome, and Blackhead Mountain, the fourth-, third-, and fifth-highest peaks in the Catskills, respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manor Kill</span> River in New York, United States

Manor Kill is a river in Schoharie County in the state of New York. It begins northeast of Manorkill and flows westward before flowing into the Schoharie Reservoir southeast of Gilboa, New York. Manor Kill Falls is located on the creek where it passes under Prattsville Road. Since it drains into the Schoharie Reservoir, it is part of the New York City water supply system.

References

  1. ↑ "The End of Old Gilboa". 13 November 2008.
  2. 1 2 Meland, Alvin (1926-07-11). "New York's Great Water Project is Finished". The New York Times.
  3. ↑ Cudmore, Dana (2006-07-24). "Schoharie wants more dam money". The Daily Star. Oneonta, NY. Archived from the original on 2012-03-23.
  4. ↑ Schoharie County Emergency Management Gilboa Dam Failure Public Planning Information
  5. ↑ "$350M update nears of Gilboa Dam, New York City says". Times Union. Albany, NY. June 17, 2011.
  6. ↑ Dam safety advocacy group: Dam Concerned Citizens website
  7. ↑ "Rescue Underway for 21 trapped in New York Motel as Flooding Fears Increase". Fox News. August 28, 2011. Retrieved 28 August 2011.
  8. ↑ "Residents below NY's Gilboa Dam told to evacuate". The Wall Street Journal. Associated Press. August 28, 2011. Archived from the original on 2012-11-11.
  9. ↑ "Cuomo orders dam inspection after minor upstate NY quake". Washington Post. August 27, 2011. Retrieved 28 August 2011.[ dead link ]
  10. ↑ Cook, Steven (August 28, 2011). "Cuomo: "We're keeping our fingers crossed". Daily Gazette. Retrieved 28 August 2011.
  11. ↑ Boating, New York City Department of Environmental Protection. Accessed October 4, 2023. "All boaters must obtain a free DEP Access Permit and all boats must be steam cleaned by a DEP certified steam cleaning vendor before being placed on a resevoir[sic].... Recreational boating (boating for non-anglers) is allowed on Cannonsville, Pepacton, Neversink and Schoharie Reservoirs during the summer.... Non-motorized kayaks, canoes, rowboats, and sculls with the appropriate recreational boat tags may be used."
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