by Olivia Young

The Jerome Park Reservoir, which runs along Goulden Avenue from West 197th Street to Sedgwick Avenue in Kingsbridge Heights, was built more than a century ago to help distribute water to the Bronx and store water in the city. Currently, the south end of the two-basin, 94-acre reservoir is an empty stretch of concrete — what some residents call an ongoing eyesore that is moving closer to a resolution.

Here are five important points to know about the reservoir’s past, present and future.

 

Dry through 2027

According to a New York City Department of Environmental Protection spokesperson, the department continues to make upgrades to the reservoir, which is undergoing a capital state of good repair project.

“The south basin is drained to accommodate ongoing construction,” the spokesperson said. “We anticipate it will remain empty of water through 2027 when that work is complete. This work has no effect on the city water supply.”

 

All part of the plan

The city’s department of environmental protection said in a February 2022 release the $38 million project would begin later that year and take about four years to wrap up.

Work is focused on improving structural components, such as repairing the reservoir’s eastern wall, and filling parts of the Old Croton Aqueduct — New York City’s first, now- defunct, water system — that run along the reservoir with flowable concrete, which is a runny concrete mixture. It also targets upgrading the interior fence, as well as the retaining wall that separates the reservoir from Lehman College’s parking lot.

 

 

 

What came before

Before the $38 million project was a different $15.7 million project. Starting in 2018 and lasting four years, the department worked to rehabilitate gatehouses — which control the flow of water into the reservoir — install new fencing and upgrade security infrastructure.

The department said in 2022 the investment will help ensure the long-term function of the city’s water supply infrastructure.

 

Community complaints

In the last year, residents have voiced that the empty reservoir site is an eyesore. Previously, community members have taken issue with the lack of public access to the reservoir for joggers and recreationalists — which the department banned in 2004, citing potential security risks for the Croton Water Filtration Plant, The Press reported in 2017.

 

A long history

The reservoir was built from 1894 to 1905, according to the city’s department of environmental protection. It was originally fed by the Old Croton Aqueduct, which drew from the Croton Reservoir in Westchester, until city demand for water rose, according to the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Plans for the New Croton Aqueduct launched in the 1880s, which helped meet a growing population’s water needs.

In the 2000s and early 2010s, significant changes were made to the reservoir so it could connect with the Croton Water Filtration Plant, according to the city’s department of environmental protection. The plant runs underneath Mosholu Golf Course in Van Cortlandt Park.

Jerome Park Reservoir can store 770 million gallons of water, according to the city’s department of environmental protection. About 10 percent of the city’s drinking water passes through the reservoir and the Croton Water Filtration Plant daily, the department said.

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