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45-400: 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

90-412: A floodplain develops alongside. The land along the creek is now largely in private hands, and there is little public access to it as it crosses into Sullivan County . After crossing under NY 55A , it widens into the reservoir just below Grahamsville and begins flowing more to the east-southeast. Routes 55 and 55A bracket the reservoir to the south and north respectively. One-third of the way along

135-477: A boomtown quickly. The canal remained a prosperous operation until late in the 19th century when rail transportation finally became more affordable, and ended its days in 1904 after a brief period carrying Rosendale cement. The former terminal port area for the canal is now Kingston's Rondout-West Strand Historic District , listed on the National Register of Historic Places . In the mid-20th century,

180-487: A chance ray of the vertical sun, it was a perpetual feast to the eye — so cool, so deep, so pure; every reach and pool like a vast spring. You lay down and drank or dipped the water up in your cup, and found it just the right degree of refreshing coldness. One is never prepared for the clearness of the water in these streams. It is always a surprise. See them every year for a dozen years, and yet, when you first come upon one, you will utter an exclamation. I saw nothing like it in

225-518: A fort was built here by the colonial government in 1660. The local Native Americans likewise frequented the area. In 1652, an Englishman , Thomas Chambers, became the first to acquire a land deed from the Indians, nearby, along the Esopus Creek (which has a vast expanse of good farmland), and thus began the genesis of present-day Kingston. The Rondout's role in the area's early settlement was as

270-489: A maximum depth of 175 feet (53 m) near the dam. Mean depth is 73.8 feet (22.5 m). Elevation is 840 feet (260 m) above sea level. It holds 49.6 billion US gallons (188,000,000 m), which comes not only from the reservoir's own 95 square-mile (247 km) watershed but from Cannonsville , Neversink , and Pepacton reservoirs via the Delaware and Neversink tunnels as well. Since those three are in

315-687: A multiple county police jurisdiction. In 1908, Rhinelander Waldo was appointed as Chief of the Board of the Aqueduct Police. At this time, there were approximately 60 men assigned to the force. After a few months of service, Rhinelander was appointed Fire Commissioner of the City of New York . He was succeeded by Captain Douglas I. McKay. Captain McKay selected a number of qualified individuals from

360-713: A narrow valley. At Napanoch, where it turns northeast and receives its first significant tributary, the Ver Nooy Kill , it becomes wider, as does the valley it drains, and deeper. North of the Shawangunks , where the Wallkill trickles down from Sturgeon Pool, it is wide enough to be referred to as the Rondout River at some points. At Creeklocks, the former northern outlet of the canal, it becomes wide and deep enough to be navigable , and several marinas line

405-537: A port for the settlement that was made along the Esopus Creek [The Early History of Kingston, chapter 2] Settlement did slowly progress inland, but it was not until well after American independence that the Rondout would become economically important. In the early 1820s two Philadelphia businessmen realized the immense profits that could be made if they could find a way to get the mostly unmined high-quality anthracite coal from undeveloped Northeastern Pennsylvania to

450-510: A trout, I should ascend every stream till I found the Rondout. It is the ideal brook. Starting in 1915 with Ashokan Reservoir , New York City had been expanding its water supply system with reservoirs in the Catskills. In 1937 it began construction of Merriman Dam near Lackawack, which would soon be flooded forever to allow the growing city to tap the pure waters Burroughs had written about. Those waters began to reach city taps in 1951, and

495-698: The Bureau of Water Supply Police and the Aqueduct Police , is a law enforcement agency in New York City whose duties are to protect and preserve the New York City water supply system maintained by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection , the nation's largest single source water supply. The department has protected and preserved the water supply system for over 100 years. The Bureau of Water Supply (BWS) Police

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540-607: The Delaware River watershed, Rondout is considered by the city's Department of Environmental Protection to be part of the Delaware system despite being firmly within the Hudson River watershed itself. Combined, the four reservoirs account for 1,012 square miles (2,620 km) of watershed and 320.4 billion US gallons (1.213 × 10 m) of capacity, 890 million US gallons (3,400,000 m) of which goes to

585-493: The September 11, 2001 attacks forced an increase in security. Fishing is permitted in season with a DEP-issued permit in addition to the appropriate New York state license, and the reservoir is known, as are most Catskill fishing areas, for its trout . However boats are not allowed to leave the reservoir for environmental reasons and must be stored near it year round. Hunters with valid city and state permits may also use

630-601: The Ver Nooy Kill it bends northeast, paralleling the Shawangunk Ridge and the edge of the Catskill Plateau. The creek, here wider and deeper, forms the bed of a widening valley as it continues northeast past Eastern Correctional Facility , where the first remnant of the canal, an empty ditch next to an old railroad station, can be found alongside. The creek continues towards Kerhonkson , where Route 55 and US 44 cross over. US 209 continues paralleling

675-425: The handwriting and information relating to the appearance of the dams on weekly reports compiled by inspector Ronald Hewlett and initialed by section engineer Russell Betters over a three-year period were virtually identical, suggesting they had been routinely photocopied . The two were later suspended. Rondout Reservoir is a single basin 6.5 miles (10.5 km) long, 2,052 acres (8.30 km) in area and reaches

720-490: The protected areas on both sides of the creek and the ease of public access, this area has become one of the Catskills' popular trout streams, and fly-fishermen can be seen here during the season. It crosses under Peekamoose Road, here also carrying the Long Path hiking trail, again just north of a popular camping area in the small Peekamoose Wild Forest , and then passes the hamlet of Sundown and widens slightly as

765-523: The Adirondacks, nor in Canada. Absolutely without stain or hint of impurity, it seems to magnify like a lens, so that the bed of the stream and the fish in it appear deceptively near. It is rare to find even a trout stream that is not a little "off color," as they say of diamonds, but the waters in the section of which I am writing have the genuine ray; it is the undimmed and untarnished diamond. If I were

810-566: The English word redoubt (meaning a fort or stronghold) is reduyt . In the Dutch records of Wildwyck, however, the spelling used to designate this same fort is invariably Ronduyt during the earliest period, with the present form rondout (often capitalized) appearing as early as November 22, 1666. The Rondout Creek became economically important in the 19th century when the Delaware and Hudson Canal followed closely alongside it from Napanoch to

855-876: The NY state defense force, and local government officials to remember those perished while on aqueduct duties. In 1983, the Bureau of Water Supply became the Department of Environmental Protection and the New York State Legislature revised the Criminal Procedure Law, part of the New York State Laws, to include DEP police officers. In 1999, the DEP jurisdiction was extended to include the five boroughs of New York City. In 2004,

900-480: The Rondout towards High Falls , as it begins to curve to the east around the northern end of the ridge. Here, it goes over the spectacular waterfall that gives the community its name, just below NY 213 . These were the subject of controversy in recent years, since they were considered both a popular swimming hole and an attractive nuisance . The local fire department , which owned the land, had to sell it to keep its liability insurance premiums affordable, and

945-650: The banks of the stream, now more than 100 feet (30 m) wide, at Kingston just above its mouth. Rising below the col between Rocky Mountain and Balsam Cap , the Rondout Creek flows generally southerly down the slopes of Rocky Mountain into a narrow valley, receiving tributary Picket Brook on the left and three unnamed streams from the slopes of Peekamoose Mountain to the right. A mile or two from its source, it reaches some private lands and its first road, Peekamoose Road (Ulster County 42). It has dropped 1,440 feet (440 m) in its first two miles. It turns to

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990-539: The city daily — 50% of the entire system's capacity. All this water is fed from the Rondout to West Branch Reservoir in Putnam County via the Delaware Aqueduct , the world's longest continuous tunnel at 85 miles (137 km). Rondout is easy to reach via road as routes 55 and 55A form a loop around it. However, access to the actual reservoir is tightly restricted and has been even more so since

1035-590: The civil service list with the intention of making them Aqueduct Police Sergeants. He created stringent requirements, including that all members must be qualified horseman, and have experience as an officer or non-commissioned officer in the United States Army or the National Guard (with a preference for Spanish–American War Veterans). Approximately two hundred men passed these rigid qualifications and were appointed as sergeants. At this time,

1080-596: The creek but then close by it. Along here it receives several tributaries from the right — Buttermilk Falls Brook , with its eponymous waterfall near its mouth, High Falls Brook and Bear Hole Brook — most of them rising, like the Rondout itself, in the Slide Mountain Wilderness Area to the west. To the east is another Forest Preserve management unit, the Sundown Wild Forest . Some unnamed tributaries come from here. Because of

1125-538: The eastern Catskills , flows south into Rondout Reservoir , part of New York City 's water supply network, then into the valley between the Catskills and the Shawangunk Ridge , where it goes over High Falls and finally out to the Hudson at Kingston , receiving along the way the Wallkill River . The name of Rondout Creek comes from the fort, or redoubt, that was erected near its mouth. The Dutch equivalent of

1170-723: The highest court in the state, the New York State Court of Appeals, affirmed the DEP Police Department's jurisdiction throughout the watershed. Members of the DEP Police are New York State [sworn] police officers (not NYS peace officers, which many other NYC law enforcement agencies are). The NYC Department of Environmental Protection Police investigate over 4000 complaints per year, 500 of these related to environmental crimes . Environmental crimes include storm water complaints, water pollution and

1215-464: The illegal transportation, storage, and disposal of hazardous waste. Additionally they investigate waste water treatment plant and septic system failures as well as dumping complaints. The DEP department maintains jurisdiction in 14 counties including the 5 counties in New York City. The department has a full-time Aviation Unit, as well as: There are seven titles (referred to as ranks) in

1260-506: The lands around the reservoir where hunting is permitted during the season. Beyond those, however, no recreational use of the reservoir is permitted. While the land is not fenced off, the area is regularly patrolled by uniformed DEP police . Rondout Creek Rondout Creek is a 63.3-mile-long (101.9 km) tributary of the Hudson River in Ulster and Sullivan counties , New York , United States. It rises on Rocky Mountain in

1305-425: The lucrative markets of New York City . Railroads had not yet been perfected, so they saw the possibility of a canal running from Honesdale, Pennsylvania , to the Hudson at what was then the village of Rondout . In 1828 they obtained a charter for their company to do this, and the Delaware and Hudson Canal was opened a few years later. Coal was transferred from canal barges to river ships at Rondout, and it became

1350-556: The new owner has posted the property for the same reason. Around the north end of the Shawangunks, it receives as tributaries many of the streams of the Minnewaska State Preserve : Peters Kill , Stony Kill and Coxing Kill . It begins to curve more to the east again. Route 213 replaces Route 209 as the Rondout's paralleling road, with the canal's empty ditch running next to both along the way to Rosendale ,

1395-511: The newly formed Aqueduct Police, a force of 350 officers (300 of these being mounted units) were tasked with ensuring order in the unruly construction site work camps. The first Board of Water Supply Police Precinct was built in Spout Brook, approximately two miles from Peekskill, New York . Other Precincts were built shortly after, each being staffed by five sergeants and thirty officers and horses. During World War One, American involvement in

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1440-583: The next settlement, which grew up around the canal and, later, a local cement industry that used the creek to get its product to market. Here it crosses under Route 213 and NY 32 in a gravel-lined flood control channel, but returns to a more natural bed shortly afterwards to flow beneath the New York State Thruway . In the wooded areas east of the Thruway, the Wallkill River , its flow attenuated by Sturgeon Pool just upriver, joins in from

1485-406: 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

1530-822: The reservoir itself was completed three years later. Today, via the Delaware Aqueduct , and the connections it has via the Neversink Aqueduct to the Neversink , Pepacton and Cannonsville reservoirs to the west supplementing the upper Rondout's drainage, it supplies half the city's daily water draw. New York City Department of Environmental Protection Police 2nd Precinct – Beerston 3rd Precinct – Downsville 4th Precinct – Ashokan 5th Precinct – Neversink 6th Precinct – Eastview 7th Precinct – Yonkers Kingston – Police Academy The New York City Department of Environmental Protection Police , also known as DEP Police , and formerly known as

1575-601: The reservoir's 9-mile (14 km) length, it crosses back into Ulster County. Now at an elevation of 840 feet (260 m), the creek resumes at the site of the former hamlet of Lackawack, leaving the Catskill Park , now headed eastwards, in a rocky, wider streambed through some slightly more development. It follows closely alongside Route 55, deviating from it only when it turns north to Honk Lake , another impoundment. Past here it crosses under 55 again and comes into Napanoch . After crossing under US 209 and receiving

1620-404: The reservoir, which collects water from three others, also add to its flow. The Rondout goes through several different stages because of the changes in surrounding geography and past development, such as the canal and reservoir, that has drawn on its waters. Its headwaters , above the reservoir, are a typical mountain stream. Below the reservoir it remains fairly rocky but widens into the floor of

1665-590: 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 . In 2006, after residents raised concerns regarding the soundness of both Merriman and Neversink dams following emergency repairs to Schoharie Dam , a local newspaper, the Times Herald-Record , obtained copies of weekly visual inspection reports for both and found that

1710-402: The south. The Rondout turns north, then east again, crossing Route 213 again. At Creeklocks the last lock and the end of the canal are still visible. In Kingston itself it widens and flows under a pair of bridges, the historic Kingston–Port Ewen Suspension Bridge , which carried US 9W until the construction of the neighboring John T. Loughran Bridge . The city's West Strand neighborhood along

1755-473: The southwest to follow a wider valley, known informally as Peekamoose Gorge. Most of the land surrounding the creek is part of New York's Forest Preserve , "forever wild" and thus undeveloped. The rocky stream boasts several popular swimming holes , one of which is known as Blue Hole for the greenish tone of the deep water within. South of the small outlet stream from Peekamoose Lake, it is crossed and then followed by Peekamoose Road, which at first runs high above

1800-500: The stream would find another important use. Naturalist John Burroughs had anticipated it when he explored the upper headwaters with a friend early in the century, writing in his essay "A Bed of Boughs" of the purity of the stream's waters and its benefits for both man and fish: My eyes had never before beheld such beauty in a mountain stream. The water was almost as transparent as the air — was, indeed, like liquid air; and as it lay in these wells and pits enveloped in shadow, or lit up by

1845-475: The value of the creek for their colonial ambitions. However, the contention that a trading post or fort was established at the mouth of the Rondout in the early part of the 17th century is thoroughly debunked in Marc B. Fried's The Early History of Kingston and Ulster County, NY, pp. 3–14 and 155–61. The first non-Native structure at this location was undoubtedly the house of settler Christoffel Davits in 1653, and

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1890-411: The village of Rondout , now part of Kingston, which grew rapidly as the canal's northern port. Today it is important not only for the reservoir, but for the fishing and other recreational opportunities it provides. Due to the Wallkill, it drains a vast area stretching over 1,100 square miles (2,850 km ) all the way down to Sussex County, New Jersey . The high mountains around its upper course and

1935-589: The war brought the historic DEP Police to duties protecting the NYC water supply. As of the present day, the DEP Police today still has the same mission guarding the water supply, and is a participant of the annual First Provisional Regiment memorial services, held at the Village of Sleepy Hollow, NY. This Aqueduct Defense Memorial Service honors and remembers 40 soldiers who died while serving New York State during World War I. DEP Police provides an honor guard, cooperates with

1980-622: The waterfront has been rejuvenated in recent years and many boats can be seen moored at docks here on summer weekends. Old shipbuilders ' factories line the northern bank, and one of them has been converted into the Hudson River Maritime Museum . After a slight curve through swampier, less developed lowlands in the Kingston Point neighborhood, the Rondout empties into the Hudson at Rondout Lighthouse , just opposite Rhinecliff . The early Dutch settlers realized

2025-459: Was created through legislation enacted in the 1906 Water Supply Act. It was not until 1907 that the first provisional appointees were hired and assigned. On July 9, 1908, the first permanent police officers were appointed and assigned to the precincts in Peekskill , Garrison , Browns Station , and High Falls . The Bureau of Water Supply Police was the first police agency in upstate New York with

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