Newark evening star and Newark advertiser., 1915-05-21
WORKS BOARD
WILL NOT HEED
MAYORS VETO
Purpose Overriding City Ex-
ecutive's Objection and Buy
Wawayanda Watershed.

An effort will be made at next
Thursdays meeting Of the Board OF
Works to repass, Mayor Raymond
veto to the contrary notwithstand-
| ing the resolution calling for the
purchase of Lake Wawayanda, in
Sussex county, and 5000 acres of land
surrounding.
Commissioner Biertumpfel an
nounced at yesterdays meeting of
the board that he stood ready to vote
to override the veto. He moved that
the veto message be laid over for
one week. This was carried and Mr..
Biertumpfel then offered set of rea-
sons for his approval of the Waway-
anda proposition. He said:
"Inasmuch as we now find
ourselves confronted with a veto
from his honor. the Mayor, upon the
resolution for the purchase of the
Wawayanda tract, | am compelled
both in justification of myself, as
| chairman Of the water committee
as well as for the information of the
| people of this great city, by whom l
have been elected, to represent and
safeguard to the best of my ability
their interests, to make this state
ment:
THAT this city has, through its
rapid growth been gradually, but
surely, reaching the maximum con-
sumption of water as provided for
by our present reservoirs and water
shed-that such maximum capacity
has been generally estimated to be
about fifty to fifty-two million gal
Ions per day-and that, upon several
occasions during the past year the
consumption has reached very closely
this amount, as reported by our engi-
neers in charge, is a fact that should
not be tampered with lightly. That
upon several occasions during the
past two years, several dry spells
have caused the amount of water up
on storage to decrease to such an ex-
tent, that the necessity for overcom-
ing any water famine danger became
very evident.
Fire Peril.
"That the installation of the very
extended high pressure system
throughout the city with its many
fire protection outlets, is also a seri-
Gus cause for engineering contempla-
tion--for on several occasions, where
| large fires We're underway, the pres
sure was seriously found wanting and
had to be adjusted by the regulating
of various gates, so as to concentrate
flows from different parts of the city.
That many owners of buildings have
complained of lack of pressure and
the inability to have water at all
times on upper floors. All these have
been signal warnings that the depart
ment must at once provide for the
emergency that may be upon us at
any time.
with the rapid influx of Industrial
development, the continual demand
for high pressure installations, it
must be apparent that the many out
let's, when not in use, can at any
time be thrown wide open, should
conflagration arise in any part of the
city. This would mean the enormous
use of water thus reducing the pres
sure in other parts of the city, and
may even go so far as to effect
vacuum in certain places, suscepti-
BILE of great damage
"All these matters are pertinent
and well known to your engineers.
and it has been their endeavor for
many years to bring about a solution
for additional water-they have rec
ommended the raising of the Oak
Ridge DAM which is now being done,
and will probably increasAthe stor-
age capacity two or three million
gallons per day They have been
arduously trying to develop the Wan
aque shed. This matter has been OBJ
1eeted to by many of our neighbor-
ing municipalities and is today no
nearer solution than it was five years
ago. Even though at some future
day this Wanaque proposition should
come to pass, IL is "a question of close
on to eight or nine million dollars
with a supply of about eighty million
gallons per day And this under the
conservation plan and ideas now eX-
tant, cannot be utilized by Newark
alone, but will have to be apportionei
as the various municipalities will re-
quire same, while the project before
us, at cost of $4,000, will give us
an immediate supply of ten million
gallons per day of the purest water
that nature offers. 1t is also urged
that the diversion rights would be
contested by the State of New York.
II such legal dangers had permitted
our far-seeing officials, in years gone
by to withhold the purchase of our
present watershed, we would still be
drinking Passaic River water. for to-
day we are defending ourselves
against diversion attacks and will be
as long as humanity exists.
Doubts Mayors Views.
ut is suggested by his honor, the
Mayor that additional supplies might
be. obtained by purchase from the
East Jersey Water Company. That
this latter suggestion is not we'll
founded can be best understood when
the kind of water, mixed, and not
pure, was the very reason used by
the objectors to the purchase of the
East River Water Company's plants
by the State Water SuDnlv Conmis-