Whiting Street Reservoir | |
---|---|
Official name | Whiting Street Reservoir |
Country | United States of America |
Location | Holyoke, Massachusetts |
Coordinates | 42°14′29″N 72°38′10″W / 42.241509°N 72.636026°W |
Purpose | Drinking water supply |
Status | Operational |
Opening date | 1888 |
Owner(s) | City of Holyoke |
Operator(s) | Holyoke Water Works |
Reservoir | |
Total capacity | 479×10 6 US gal (1.81 Gl) |
Catchment area | 897 acres (363 ha) |
Surface area | 114 acres (46 ha) |
Maximum length | 6,280 ft (1,910 m) |
Normal elevation | 387 ft (118 m)[1] |
Website http://www.holyoke.org/departments/water-works/ |
Whiting Street Reservoir, often shortened as Whiting Reservoir a Class I hazard reservoir, is an auxiliary drinking supply for the city of Holyoke, Massachusetts. The reservoir has an impound capacity of more than 479 million gallons of water and a safe yield of 1.5 million US gallons (5,700 m3) of water per day.[2]
The reservoir's construction finished and it became fully operational in 1888, with an access road added in 1897. The reservoir was built by damming up Raging Brook with a sandstone dam and earthen berm. Though the third water source added to the Holyoke Water Works, the reservoir was the first in the system to be created by a dam.[3] Fishing is not allowed in the reservoir to protect against aquatic invasive species. Following new filtration requirements in the 1980s, the Reservoir was put on standby in the early 1990s.[4]
Regulations designed to ensure pure water include the prohibiting of dogs, horseback riding, camping, smoking, sledding and motorcycle riding are among prohibited activities from the reservoir and abutting property.[5] The trail and access road around the reservoir was rededicated in 2018 as the Rudy Lengieza Cross Country Course for a former coach of high schools' boys and girls cross-country Holyoke Catholic High School who had served in that post for more than 50 years.[6]