The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1912-02-20
For Pure water.

For s., 600, 900 the State of New jersey
can make available water supply which
will solve the immediate problem of thu
needs of the entire population of New
Jersey, south of the Raritan river, fol
generations to come.
These facts are pointed out in report
which was submitted to Governor Wilson
by the State Water Supply Commission,
! following an investigation made for the
commission by Commissioner Harry X.
Humphreys in consultation with engineers,
the State Forester, State Geologist and
others in touch with the general subject
! under consideration. The board recon-
mends to the Governor the immediate pur-
chase of 10, 900 acres of land, the price of
which is about $1,000 900. These lands
form the head waters of the Mullica river.
In addition to this property the report adj
vises the acquisition of additional tracts
aggregating 10000 acres. which would
cost something less than 81, 0OO,O 900.
According to the plans submitted there
would be collecting reservoir at Batsto,
which is at the forks of Mullica river and
forty-two miles from Trenton. This great
conservation scheme has been worked out
after several years of investigation. 1t
was placed in the hands of Mr.. Humphreys
in 1907, shortly after the appointment of
the members of the present board. At
first he was inclined to the idea that the
plan was impracticable, as he believed
that the amount which would be required
would be so great and the returns so I'M
certain that the state might hesitate to ap-
propriate the sum sufficient to acquire the
water sheds.
In the first recommendation the board
suggests the purchase of what Is called the
Wharton tract, composed of lands acquired
by the late Joseph Wharton on Mullica
river In Burlington and Atlantic counties.
and comprising 10000 acres, or ITO
square miles. Within the boundaries of
this tract are located the watershed of the
Mullica river and its tributaries. The
tract embraces the important parts of the
Mullica river watershed above Batsto and
is n per cent. of the total drainage area
of the river which is 1921 square miles.
lightweight per cent of the drainage
area is forested and of the Wharton lands
95 per cent. are wooded.
According to the report of the commits
sion the upper Mullica alone is capable of
supplying all of the water that the cities
of the state, south of the Raritan river,
may need for many generations. There
are less than 300 people residing on the
Mullica river is 359 squire miles which will
supply with storage 240, 900, 600 gallons
daily throughout the year.
The report In showing the possibilities
In this direction, says that storage reser
voirs at the highest level, 20 feet above
tidewater, including some small reservoirs
on the headwaters of Rancocas creek,
could be constructed with a capacity of
more than %, 900, 900, 600 gallons. Storage
reservoirs for the same waters at lower
levels could be constructed with capacity
of more than $4,000, 100000 gallons. A
distributing reservoir for the same waters
could be built on Cooper river at 81 foot
elevation capable of holding 1000. 000,0 600
gallons.
Continuing the report shows that near
the Wharton tract there is also the drain
age area of the east branch of Wading
river aud of Bass river, of which the state
owns A, 400 acres. This area Is smaller
than the Wharton tract, comprising 115
square miles. Outside of the state tract
the lands In this drainage area are held by
many owners. 1t is even less populous
than the Wharton tract and the commits
sion has been informed could be acquired
at lower price inasmuch as the lands are
not nearly so desirable for many purposes
and resemble only the very poorest of the
lands In the Wharton tract. Within the
4. 400 acres owned by the state there is
hill known as Bear Swamp Hill, the
character of the hill is such that there
could be built on 1t a reservoir covering
forty acres at an elevation of $50 feet.
''The project to which attention is called
is in brief to dam at or near the head of
tide the several streams forming Mullica
river, gather their waters by back flow
into reservoir at the village of Atsion,
where the Central Railroad can deliver
coal cheaply; then to force them further
up stream or westward into reservoir
having an elevation of seventy feet above
tide, let them flow by gravity through the
canal above mentioned to a reservoir at
the elevation of sixty-one feet to be formed
by damming the north branch of Cooper
river. From the lower or western end of
this latter reservoir a sufficient quantity
would flow through pipes to distributing
for the supply of Camden and
many other nearby rapidly-growing COM
munities. We are officially informed that
both Camden and Atlantic City will need
additional water from this, or some other,
source within from five to eight years.
Trenton needs it at once.
s'Batsto at the forks of Mullica river,
where a collecting reservoir would be con-
is eighteen miles from Atlantic
City's pumping station at Absecon, forty
two miles from Trenton, eighty miles
from Jersey City. All these distances are
measured by straight lines, for south of
Trenton any construction could follow the
most direct course. Newark's pipe line is
twenty-seven miles long and Jersey CitY's
nineteen, SO that the disadvantage of dis
lance by comparison with Newark and
Jersey City is not so great after all.
Against this must be considered the
great advantages OF quantity of water
sufficient for many years to come, of the
best quality as shown by analysis. from
the fact that the streams are fed through
sand, which forms natural filter, that
the greater part of the surface is covered
with forest and that the population is
sparse. The streams are notably regular
in their flow, most of them being bordered
by swamps that serve as storage reservoirs.
Naturally any system of water distri-
button would provide for main lines with
laterals wherever needed. To provide
means of distribution for other than these
which could be supplied from the Camden
scheme, 1t is suggested that the hills
found In the neighborhood may serve as
sites for reservoirs into which the water
would be pumped, thence to be delivered
by gravity. These hills, of which Apple
Pie Hill, with an altitude of 200 feet, is
highest, are of gravel or soft sandstone.
Except for the paper mill near Batstc
there are few, if any, riparian rights to be
satisfied on any of the streams consid cred
an this plan"