History of New York City’s Water Supply
In the 1800’s, New York City residents relied on well water for their needs; however, as the City’s population grew so did the need for water. To meet this growing need, the City claimed the Croton River watershed in Putnam and Westchester Counties east of the Hudson. The Croton Water Supply System began service in 1842 and completed before World War I. The Croton watershed is composed of approximately 375 square miles east of the Hudson in Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess Counties as well a part of Connecticut
East of Hudson: Croton System (Croton Watershed reservoir & lake map)
Cross River, New Croton, Muscoot, Amawalk, Titicus, Boyd’s Corner, West Branch, Kensico, Bog Brook, East Branch, Croton Falls, Diverting,
Middle Branch
And three controlled lakes: Lake Gleneida, Lake Kirk, Lake Gilead
The New York State Legislature created the Board of Water Supply in 1905 and by the following year, City engineers were looking west of the Hudson River in the Catskills for additional water supply. The Catskill Water System was completed in 1927 and the Delaware System by 1967.
West of Hudson: Catskill/Delaware System (Catskill/Delaware reservoirs map)
Cannonsville,
Pepacton,
Ashokan,
Schoharie,
Neversink,
Rondout
Today, these three systems, the Croton, Catskill and Delaware, with a storage capacity of about 550 billion gallons, provide approximately 1.3 billion gallons of water a day to 9.5 million downstate residents.
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