New-York tribune., 1905-12-24
THE oATsKILL WATER SUPPLY.
Loss to Villages of Ellenville and NapanOch
An Ideal Source

To the Editor Of The Tribune
Sir: Your editorial this morning on ths subject
Of water supply from the Catsdn region IS very
fair and to the point. The question Of damages
and especially Of indirect damages is the most
difficult of all. and there Will be a vast deal OF
trouble in adjusting it equitably. For example, the
village of Napanoch which lies just below the pro-
posed reservoir at what is called Honck Fill, will
be irremediably damaged by the construction OF
this work for It will destroy absolutely the me
water power now available and used Tor manu-
featuring purposes and for generating electriclty
for lighting EIlenve, of which Napanocn is redi'y
suburb Thus EllenviIle Will suffer also, not or
in the probable destruction of its source OF power
for electricity but in thousand indirect ways that
cannot be computed. In short, the whole nelg@nof-
hood will receve serious setback II the schelne -
carried out, and the resultant cash losses canhot
easily be estimated; many OF them cannot be estl-
mated at ALL II is therefore, evident that this
great reservoir to divert the water Of that ocaty
to New-York City will be great detriment 10
that locality The people are opposed to H. POSI-
gey 6aet ana R fem and Immediate and constant
pecuniary loss to nothing OF tIae +it
Of water above the main valley. II the plan IS caIo
red out New-York cannot De TOO Estimate
viii fan short of the actual damage that i wil 10
If the plan is executed it seems Pity d4at 5 6ns
splendid purity of the water from the Napdh9G f6r
drinking and culinary purposes only instead 1,a 0s
atersbe RsRg 1Ga Back Eit Of &apanoch is IDEAL for
s1IrpIv There is probably other locality withln
the same distance which offers the same adYaIltds
New-York must have water as you state ana gootu
water but 1t must not be blind to the interests
of those having prior rights. :
There seems to be tneXhaustible supply OF
the purest kind of water flowing suhterraIeousLy
under Long Island. This IS tapped at Elmhurst
near Drobable that the drilling Of many weIls IN
mat region would bring to the surface by the pneu-
matte system now used at Elmhurst as much water
as would be Impounded in the Napanoch reservoir!
Would if not be better to have II supply or TINS
Kind? The pumping feature is not an oblectlon
The EXPENSE of a hundred or more wells, OF q
thousand wells if need be. would be nothing com
nared with the engineering Works necessary 10
5rng water from the Catskills. Besides some eN-
detrimental well drilling on Long Island might &c
yeIop an artesan supply II II developed such a
snpDv the utilization of II would be preferable, II
seems TO me, to going far off for water; II
exceptional purity. r; - bf1I4IAt1-N bNACHIl'
Unfortunately New-York is excluded from
the water supplies of most of Long Island by All
unreasonable and foolish law; and even We're
such not the case. it would be an enormously
costly job to construct reservoirs of appropriate
size there, and every drop of the water, after it
reached the surface of the ground, would have
10 be pumped to a height of three hundred feet
or more. One of the supreme advantages of the
CatsI1iu supply is that pumping will be