Woodcliff Lake Reservoir

Woodcliff Lake is the name of a reservoir in Woodcliff Lake and portions of Hillsdale and Park Ridge, in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States.[2][3] It was created circa 1903 by damming the Pascack Brook and is also fed by the Bear Brook which joins the Pascack at the reservoir. The creation of the lake led what had been the Borough of Woodcliff to change its name to Woodcliff Lake, to match the name of the new reservoir. The reservoir is owned by Suez North America, a private utility.

Woodcliff Lake Reservoir
LocationBergen County, New Jersey,
United States
Coordinates41.019089°N 74.043388°W / 41.019089; -74.043388
Lake typeReservoir
Primary inflowsPascack Brook, Bear Brook
Primary outflowsPascack Brook
Basin countriesUnited States
Water volume871,000,000 US gal (3,300,000 m3)
Surface elevation98 ft (30 m)[1]
References[1]

The reservoir has a capacity of approximately 871 million US gallons (3,300,000 m3) of water.[4] Water released into the Pascack Brook flows downstream into the Oradell Reservoir. When the water levels become low, the old stone bridge over the Pascack Brook becomes visible just south of the causeway.

Several species of fish inhabit the reservoir including largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, carp, pumpkinseed, bluegill, brown and yellow bullheads, as well as large schools of both yellow and white perch. Fishing is restricted to those with a valid New Jersey Fishing License[5] and a Watershed Permit[6] obtained by payment of a yearly fee to the owner of the reservoir, United Water. Numerous waterfowl including various species of ducks and heron also live on and around the reservoir.[7]

The reservoir may be crossed at two points, either by a narrow road over the dam, originally Dam Road and changed to Church Road when Christ Lutheran Church was built at the Pascack Road entrance, or a higher traffic county road over a causeway, Woodcliff Avenue. On the eastern side of the reservoir is the New Jersey Transit Pascack Valley Line, with the Woodcliff Lake station stop at Woodcliff Avenue.

On March 11, 2003, Governor of New Jersey Jim McGreevey visited the nearby Lake Tappan reservoir and proposed protecting it, Woodcliff Lake and their tributaries with Category 1 water purity status.[8]

See also

References
  1. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Woodcliff Lake Reservoir
  2. Redmon, Kimberly. "United Water to begin dam upgrades in Woodcliff Lake Reservoir", Pascack Valley Community Life, February 28, 2014. Accessed March 18, 2015. "United Water plans to lower Church Road, which is situated above the dam, for additional spillway capacity, as well as widen the narrow roadway. As a result, Church Road, an east-west thoroughfare through Hillsdale, will be closed to traffic from April 1 through Dec. 31, 2015."
  3. UNITED WATER NEW JERSEY, INC. v. BOROUGH OF HILLSDALE, Justia. Accessed March 18, 2015. "The relevant facts are essentially undisputed. UWNJ provides water to customers in sixty municipalities in Bergen and Hudson Counties. To do so, UWNJ utilizes, among other facilities, the Woodcliff Lake Reservoir, which is located in Hillsdale and the Borough of Woodcliff Lake ('Woodcliff Lake'). One of the reservoir's structures is a dam across the Pascack Brook, which UWNJ's predecessor, Hackensack Water Company, constructed in 1904. The dam is traversed by Church Road, a private road owned by UWNJ that is subject to use easements held by Hillsdale and Woodcliff Lake."
  4. "Hackensack Water Company, Form 10-K, Annual Report, Filing Date Mar 30, 1994". secdatabase.com. Retrieved May 14, 2018.
  5. New Jersey Fishing License, accessed July 20, 2006
  6. Watershed Recreation Permit Application, accessed July 20, 2006
  7. Watershed Recreation Brochure, accessed July 20, 2006.
  8. New Jersey Governor McGreevey Seeks Purity Standards for 2 Bergen Reservoirs, accessed July 19, 2006.
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