How The Tourne Was Saved

In the late 1960's the quality of the Rockaway River below the Jersey City Reservoir began to deteriorate badly.  What made matters worse, because of the lack of a modern sewer system, the "trickle" was often brown and disgusting!  The odor in Lake Hiawatha was frequently repugnant and it was often said  apocryphally that it caused the paint to peel from the doors.

Why not propose a pumped storage reservoir upriver from the Jersey City Reservoir?  It could be filled in the rainy season and pumped back out into the Rockaway River during the summer when the flow was low and the downstream cities needed water.  Thus, the river flow in the lower Rockaway could be augmented and more easily managed.

The Tourne area would be perfect for it they felt.  It was low-lying and could easily be dammed to construct the reservoir.  After all, it was argued, what good is that useless "swamp" anyway?

Download how_the_tourne_was_saved.doc

courtesy of Barn Theatre website

Comments

[Jean]

Very interesting. Thanks you.