The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1895-06-15
rho Ra,n.po water shed Gone.

The Ramapo Water shed Gone.
An exceedingly interesting chapter in
the history of Jersey City water supply
stsivirgs appeared in the World" OF
Thursday. l. n the knell OF one
mora hope. 1t shut the gates on
more source of supply.
The simple item Of news recorded was
that Governor Morton of New York had
signed on V, .dnesdIv q bill in the inteS-
est of the Radnapo Water Company. AT
Albany. the densest ignorance prevailed
regarding the bill; but diligent inquiry
nabled the world to give the public
the inside facts.
The Ramapo Water Company was in
corparated in New York State under !
law of Is4s. which simply enables citi-
zeus to conlb.ne for the procurement of
water supplies. The act just passed,
however. gives the ompany right or
eminent DOMAIN, by which it can seize
the entire Ramapo watershed In Rock
land county. New York. 1t also confers
power to lay water pipes under the nav
tgable waters of the State. from which
the inference may easily be drawn that
New York or Broo!llyn. or both. may
be the objective point AT which the COM
.pany is aiming. Brooklyns water cup
ply is deficient and precarious. Hardly
any more can be got on Long lslano,
and the officials are much worried about
it. The opinion is freely expressed that
this is the want which the Ramapo land
and water grabbers propose to supply.
But how does this concern Jersey
City? may be asked.
lust this way
The Ramapo River rises in Orange
county. New York. e Monroe. Tt
flows through Orange and Roekland
counties into Bergen n Passaic of
this State. It flows into the Pompton
River, and thus into the Passaic, con-
~.stituting 4 part of the watershed there
of. The Ramapo drains 1907 miles of ter
ritory. of which 1924 miles lies in New
York State. This portion is most adj
mirably adapted for water supply pur-
poses. 1t is forest or else rocky waste.
There is no pollution whatever. The
water. too. is of the finest quality.
The yield of the river at Pompton is
naturally. without storage. 4.541, 100 gal
Ions per day. There is a good site for a
dam there. But the natural site for
storage reservoirs are all in New York
State, and 1t is there that fully eighty
per cent. of the water drains into the
stream. The various possible sites for
storage are mentioned by the State
Geologist in the volume of his Final
Report" just published. as being Suffern,
Mahwah. Mechaniesyille. Ramapo l and
2. S~outhfield. Greenwood. Stony Brook,
Echo and Cranberry lakes. Slaughter
pond, Round pound, Mount Baska lake,
Townsend. Indian, Tuxedo lake and
Negro pond. OF these the first and last
are partly in New Jersey. All the rest
are in New York. Thus it will be seen
that the seizure of the New York section
OF this stream. with its lands and tribu-
.taries. for use by the public of that
State renders the Ramapo wholly un-
available for use by Jersey City. It is
q natural source Of water supply by New
Jerseys northern cities. but political
divisions here run counter to the designs
of Providence and place the price beyond
our reach.
It is quite plain that If the water be
1mpounded by New York parties in that
State. the flow of the Ramapo at Pomp-
ton will practically be reduced to moth
ing. There will be no water for supply
of cities. for power. or even to help
swell the volume of the Passaic.
This disposal of the Ramapo River has
. marked effect or our opportunities for
getttng water. 1t confines US to a choice
between the Rockaway and the surplus
OF the Pequannock. It also vindicates
the policy of placing in all specifications
prepared by the city the stipulation that
the entire watershed from which our
supply is to be derived. as well Is all
reservoir sites, should be located within
the jurisdiction of the State of New Jer-
eey.