East Branch Reservoir, is a

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

in the town of

Southeast, New York Southeast is a town in Putnam County, New York, United States, so named for its location in the southeastern corner of the county. The population was 18,058 at the 2020 census. The town as a whole is informally referred to as Brewster, the town' ...

, near the village of

Brewster Brewster may refer to: People *Brewster (surname) *Brewster Kahle (born 1960), American computer technologist * Brewster H. Shaw (born 1945), American astronaut * Grace Brewster Hopper (born 1906), American computer scientist, mathematician, and ...

. Part of the

New York City water supply system The New York City water supply system is a combination of Aqueduct (water supply), aqueducts, reservoirs, and tunnels which supplies fresh water to New York City. With three major water systems (New Croton Aqueduct, Croton, Catskill Aqueduct, Ca ...

, it was formed by impounding the East Branch of the

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

. Forming part of the

Croton Watershed The Croton Watershed is the New York City water supply system's name for its southernmost watershed and its infrastructure, an organized entity rather than a mere hydrological feature. Spanning large swaths of Putnam and Westchester counties ...

, it was placed into service in 1891, and lies some north of the city, in the southeast corner of Putnam County.

History

The East Branch Reservoir has a surface area of , reaches a mean depth of , and holds at full capacity. It drains a area that includes Bog Brook Reservoir. Its water flows back into the East Branch of the Croton River south of the dam, then into The

Diverting Reservoir The Diverting Reservoir is a reservoir in the New York City water supply system in the town of Southeast, New York, in Putnam County. Part of the system's Croton Watershed, it lies along the Middle Branch Croton River within about of New Yor ...

, then via the Croton River to the Muscoot and the New Croton reservoirs, into the

New Croton Aqueduct The New Croton Aqueduct is an aqueduct in the New York City water supply system, carrying the waters of the Croton Watershed from the New Croton Dam in Westchester County, New York, to the Jerome Park Reservoir in the Bronx. Built roughly ...

. Water from the aqueduct flows into the

Jerome Park Reservoir The Jerome Park Reservoir is a reservoir of the New York City water supply system located in Jerome Park in the borough of the Bronx in New York City. History The reservoir was completed in 1906, built to receive the waters of the New York Ci ...

in the

Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

for daily distribution. One of two double reservoirs in NYC's system, it is connected to the Bog Brook impoundment via a tunnel. When the two were being built, the project's name was "Double Reservoir I". The second double reservoir project ("Double Reservoir II") would create the Croton Falls and Diverting reservoirs. The village of Southeast Center, named for the town of Southeast, was leveled and flooded to create the reservoir. Parts of the village remain, including Sodom Road, at the foot of the Sodom Dam, which holds the reservoir back. East Branch Reservoir spillway

Construction of the reservoir also flooded part of the village of Milltown in the northeastern corner of Southeast, near present-day Deforest Corners. Many of the village's original buildings were moved to higher ground, onto present-day Milltown Road, one of Southeast's longest roads running from

New Fairfield, Connecticut New Fairfield is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 13,579 at the 2020 census. New Fairfield is one of five towns that surround Candlewood Lake, the largest lake in Connecticut. The town is located n ...

, to Route 22 in Southeast. The village of Milltown's one-room schoolhouse still stands today as a private residence. Foundations, rock walls and roadbeds for both villages can still be seen during droughts.

References

External links

NYCDEP Water Supply Watersheds-Links to information on reservoirs by system
* Croton Watershed Reservoirs in New York (state) Protected areas of Putnam County, New York Reservoirs in Putnam County, New York 1891 establishments in New York (state) {{PutnamCountyNY-geo-stub

History

See also

References

External links