The Muscoot Reservoir is a reservoir in the New York City water supply system in northern Westchester County, New York, located directly north of the village of Katonah. Part of the system's Croton Watershed, it is 25 miles (40 kilometres) north of the City.[2]

Muscoot Reservoir
Muscoot Reservoir
Muscoot Reservoir cuts across this 2013 aerial photograph from lower left to center and upper right. At center left is Amawalk Reservoir (which drains into Muscoot Reservoir) at upper right is Lake Mahopac. Mount Kisco, New York is at bottom center and near center right are Katonah, New York and Interstate 684.
Location	Westchester County, New York
Coordinates	41.2694°N 73.7070°W / 41.2694; -73.7070
Type	Reservoir
Catchment area	76 sq mi (200 km2)
Basin countries	United States
Surface area	1,263 acres (511 ha)[1]
Max. depth	30 ft (9.1 m)[1]
Shore length1	30.5 mi (49.1 km)[1]
Surface elevation	200 ft (61 m)[1]
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

History

The reservoir was constructed at the beginning of the 20th century. It was formed by the damming of the upper half of the Croton Riverby.[3]

The reservoir was completed in 1905.[2]

During construction, the New York Central Railroad moved Bridge L-158 from the Rondout Creek near Kingston to carry its Mahopac Branch across a section of the reservoir near Goldens Bridge. It remains today although service on the branch ended in 1960.^{[citation needed]}

In 1978, the reservoir was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the only remaining double-intersection Whipple truss railroad bridge in the state.^{[citation needed]}

Geography

The reservoir was once much smaller, but the other side of the original dam was intentionally flooded to make the reservoir bigger, when^[when?] a new dam was built downstream. The original dam is still standing, and divides the reservoir in two.^{[citation needed]}

The reservoir serves as the main collecting point for all the reservoirs in the Croton Watershed (except for the New Croton Reservoir, which later receives its water). It is almost 8 miles (13 km) long, can hold up to 4.9 billion US gallons (19,000,000 cubic metres; 19 billion litres) of water at full capacity, and has a 76-square-mile (197 km²) drainage basin.[2]

Water from the Muscoot Reservoir flows into the New Croton Reservoir. From there it enters the New Croton Aqueduct and flows south into the Jerome Park Reservoir in The Bronx.[2] Water from the Croton Aqueduct is distributed within the city to parts of The Bronx, Manhattan, and western Queens.^{[citation needed]}

Fish species found in the reservoir include largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, brown bullhead, common carp, black crappie, yellow perch, chain pickerel, sunfish, brown trout, and rainbow trout.[1]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Muscoot Reservoir.

• List of reservoirs and dams in New York

References

External links

• Photos of the Muscoot Reservoir and historic Bridge L-158