Visiting Cannonsville Reservoir

 

Recently I spent a day visiting the Cannonsville Reservoir which is southwest of the village of Walton, New York in Delaware County. It was a beautiful day and the sky was blue. Being there makes me reflect on why I love living in New York so much. Everyone urges me to move south but I never will. For one thing I have lived in the south before, having grown up in Florida. Now at this age, I cannot deal with hot weather. The biggest reason though is that I love the beauty of New York. I am in awe of it every time I take a ride out in the country. Lots of green trees, mountains, fresh water creeks, ponds, lakes and rivers. Spectacular views beyond every bend in the road. 

The Cannonsville Reservoir is about 120 miles northwest of New York City. If you would like to see more detailed information about it read it here, Cannonsville Reservoir. It is a 455 square mile drainage basin that is the largest of the four basins that flows into New York City's water supply system. I believe they said 50% of the city's water comes from this reservoir. Wikipedia said on their site, "The Cannonsville Dam is being considered as a site for a 14.08MW hydroelectric generating station." I do not know anything about that for sure as I could not find it in my research.

In 1964, five small communities were submerged in water to build a reservoir to provide water to NYC. The residents of these communities refer to it as "the taking" but it was actually the truth of the law called the eminent domain ("the right of the government to take private property for public use by virtue of the superior dominion of the sovereign power over all lands within its jurisdiction").   The five communities destroyed were Granton, Rock Royal, Rock Rift, Beerston and of course, Cannonsville which was the largest.

The building of the reservoir started in 1955 and was completed in 1964. How sad the people in these communities must have been! They had to move about 2000 graves to another location. 94 farms were destroyed along with their schools, churches and stores. These people were heartbroken, their hometowns with all their memories and connections to family, neighbors and friends. Now after all that, I saw several posts around the internet saying the water has become stagnant by the time it reaches New York City. That is a sorry turn of events that these people had to give up their homes and lives and it turns out to not last after all. I wonder why the people of these communities could not have started a new town nearby? There is a book about this that I need to find at the library. This has happened across the country to other communities in the past and present.

The day we spent driving around this beautiful area was so relaxing. No real plans, just exploring. Since living in the city after my move in 2018, I appreciate every chance I get to be in the country and especially the forest. The forest is my first love and sometimes I get the feeling that I need it. Actually I do. It gives me peace of mind. That may sound strange, but when I get worried or stressed about anything, just getting outside helps a lot. The parks near me are my go to now, but if I get a chance to spend a day like this again I will definitely do so.

Copyright © 2021 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2021  Kathleen G. Lupole