Hillview Reservoir

The Hillview Reservoir is a 90-acre (0.36 km²) storage reservoir in southeastern Yonkers, New York.^[2] It was built within a six-year period from 1909–1915 by the New York City Board of Water Supply to receive water from the newly constructed Catskill Aqueduct, which drained water from the Ashokan Reservoir and sent it down into the Kensico Reservoir, where it would, in turn, be drained back into a continuation of the Catskill Aqueduct, and sent into the Hillview Reservoir. Frank E. Winsor was the engineer in charge of construction of both Hillview and Kensico as well as 32 miles (51 km) of the Catskill Aqueduct.

Hillview Reservoir
Southwestern portion
Hillview Reservoir Show map of New York Hillview Reservoir Show map of the United States
Location	Westchester County, New York
Coordinates	40°54′44″N 73°52′9″W
Type	reservoir
Basin countries	United States
Surface area	90-acre (0.36 km2)
Surface elevation	90 m (300 ft)[1]

Aerial view of Hillview Reservoir, 1927

The reservoir itself has a maximum capacity of 900 million US gallons (3,400,000 m³),^[3] and water from the reservoir is sent through New York City Water Tunnels No. 1 and No. 2. The plan for the New York City Water Tunnel No. 3 is to move water from the Kensico Reservoir, and send it directly into the Hillview Reservoir, and then into the rest of New York City. The reservoir itself does not impound a river, and is held up by walls on all sides.

In 1993, city officials considered building a concrete cover over the reservoir to prevent excrement from seagulls contaminating the water with bacteria and viruses.^[4]

In March 2019, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) made an agreement with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to cover the reservoir by 2049 to comply with the Safe Drinking Water Act. They also agreed to enhance efforts to manage wildlife at the reservoir in the meantime, eliminating cliff swallow nests and capturing or killing waterfowl.^[5][6]

See also

• List of reservoirs and dams in New York
• New York City water supply system

References

1. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Hillview Reservoir
2. "Department of Environmental Protection Completes $41 Million in Improvements at Hillview Reservoir". New York City Department of Environmental Protection. New York City. February 26, 2013. Retrieved January 24, 2016.
3. Wiggin, Thos. H. (July 1911). "New York's Additional Water Supply". Proceedings of the Engineers Club of Philadelphia. 28. Engineers Club of Philadelphia: 193. Retrieved November 3, 2011.
4. Wald, Matthew L. (August 10, 1993). "New York May Try Concrete to Combat Gulls at a Reservoir". The New York Times. Retrieved November 3, 2011.
5. Brown, Stephen Rex (March 18, 2019). "NYC agrees to build costly cover over Yonkers reservoir, and water birds will pay a hefty price". New York Daily News. Retrieved June 6, 2019.
6. "City of New York Agrees to Settle Federal Complaint by Covering the Hillview Reservoir to Prevent Contamination of the City's Drinking Water Supply". Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of New York. March 28, 2019. Retrieved June 6, 2019.

Sometime around1956, a seaplane attempted to land in the reservoir and either needed more runway length or didn't make the water and crashed on the Kimball ave slope