Croton River

Map of the Croton River drainage basin.

The Croton River ( /ˈkroʊtən/ kroh-tən) is a river in southern New York that begins where the East and West Branches of the Croton River meet a little way downstream from the Croton Falls Reservoir. Shortly downstream, the Croton River, along with its tributary, the Muscoot River, flow into the Muscoot Reservoir, and after flowing through that, it empties into the New Croton Reservoir, which feeds the New Croton Aqueduct supplying water to New York City. Excess water leaves the spillway at the New Croton Dam, and finally empties into the Hudson River at Croton-on-Hudson, New York at Croton Point, about 30 miles north of New York City. The river has a watershed area of 361 square miles.

History

In 1884, the engineers of the Aqueduct Commission of the City of New York had to design a masonry dam, from 275 to 300 ft. high, which was to be built across the Croton River, near its mouth, to form a large storage reservoir for providing a water supply to New York City. The Croton Falls Dam was built and the resulting reservoir, which was placed into service in 1911, can hold 14.2 billion US gallons (54,000,000 m3) of water at full capacity, and has a drainage basin of 16 square miles (25.6 km²).

In the 1890s, New York City ordered the destruction or relocation of any village lining the Croton or its tributaries that threatened to pollute them; the Croton was, and still is, an important part of the water supply of New York City. Many of the villages and hamlets were moved. The city chose this kind of source protection instead of resorting to expensive filtration.

See also

• List of rivers of New York
• Croton Gorge Park