History
The reservoir was made possible by the construction of Merriman Dam along Rondout Creek. Construction began in 1937 and ended in 1954, three years after the reservoir began delivering water. It would be the first of four built by the city to satisfy its growing demand in the years after World War II. Three villages – Lackawack, Montela and Eureka – were condemned and flooded in the process. The small settlement of Grahamsville remains in existence just west of the reservoir.
In 1998, the city's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued an advisory warning against eating more than one reservoir-caught smallmouth bass per month after mercury levels of 1.3 part per million (ppm), slightly above the federal standard of 1.0 ppm, were confirmed in three caught in the reservoir. Since there is no industry in the reservoir's vast watershed, this contamination is believed to be the result of acid rain from coal-fired power plants in the Midwest.
Read more about this topic: Rondout Reservoir
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