Been looking through this thread for dark and sinister purposes of my own, and I gotta say, given the sort of things France, never mind Russia, was thinking of in 1916, Germans complaining after the war about how terrible Versailles was come across as a bunch of whiny snowflakes. Thanks to the Russian revolution you missed a serious bullet, dudes.
Proposals and War Aims That Didn't Happen Map Thread
- Thread starter Beedok
- Start date
In 1915, the Assyrian Genocide started in the Ottoman Empire. Around 50% of the population were either put to death or died from sickness. This represented the main argument for Assyrian nationalists to create an independent Assyrian state.
The first proposal "New Assyria" in 1915, which includes all of Mesopotamia and adjacent regions:
Then, WWI ended. In 1919, several Assyrian delegations arrived at the Paris Peace Conference, demanding an independent Assyro-Chaldean State:
In 1922, after the Turkish War of Independence, Agha Petros, an Assyrian military general during WWI, proposed variants of an Assyro-Chaldean state at the Conference of Lausanne. The maximum covered the regions of Urmiyah, Mosul, and Van:
The first proposal "New Assyria" in 1915, which includes all of Mesopotamia and adjacent regions:
Then, WWI ended. In 1919, several Assyrian delegations arrived at the Paris Peace Conference, demanding an independent Assyro-Chaldean State:
In 1922, after the Turkish War of Independence, Agha Petros, an Assyrian military general during WWI, proposed variants of an Assyro-Chaldean state at the Conference of Lausanne. The maximum covered the regions of Urmiyah, Mosul, and Van:
I'm surprised eastern Washington state has gotten on board yet to form an Even Greater Idaho:
So I was doing some reading and found out about a proposal by RENAMO in the Mozambican Civil War around 1986 to split the country into two, the People's Republic of Mozambique under FRELIMO and the Republic of Rombezia under RENAMO in the north, I found these passages from a book I found on Google with a description of the territory:
I'm not entirely sure as to what part of the Zambezi they want to stop at but I think it'd probably stop at the same place the border of Zambezia province ends at.
I'm not entirely sure as to what part of the Zambezi they want to stop at but I think it'd probably stop at the same place the border of Zambezia province ends at.
Last edited:
I still don't get it, that Wikipedia page is vague, did Rosenberg propose to annex Reichskomissariat Turkestan in the long-term or just make into a client state? obviously asking this for maps.
Reichskommissariat Turkestan - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
Come to think of it, wouldn't that Assyria be majority Kurdish? As in, very majority Kurdish?
That was my thought as soon as I saw the Assyrian state proposals. Runs right through the Kurdish majority regions
was there even a border that could be drawn thatd result in a majority assyrian state?
With a population exchange you could probably get a small Assyrian state around Mosul, but I doubt an Assyria that big could ever happen.
Quite an old post you are responding too here. If not, I would try getting into a discussion on whether or not the Russians and British would want the Duke of zbrunswick to lead this. Or they might try to support the Grand Dukes of Oldenburg or someone from Holstein.
I bring to you, ladies and gentlemen and all you other fine folks, the absolute mother of all ah.com reservoir planning posts. Tremble. Please you have no idea how long I worked on this It was like more than 3 hours
Something much closer to home for me, a couple of reservoir plans made by the NJ Dept. of Conservation and Development's Hazen study - named after its creator Allen Hazen - in the early 1920s and some other proposals made at later dates. I figured I'd digitize a lot of the text from these 3 sources since it's fairly interesting reading (or as interesting as it can get considering the subject matter).
More info about reservoirs on the Passaic River can be found here under "Historic Background and Opinions Re Flood Control in the Passaic River Valley" in Water Resources Development, 1976: Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Water Resources of the Committee on Public Works and Transportation, House of Representatives, Ninety-fourth Congress, Second Session.
"A number of the communities in the northern part of New Jersey have in recent years endeavored to devise means or locate sources by which they might improve or enlarge their water supplies, but most of them without success. However, by state or co-operative action aimed to serve the entire Metropolitan district of that state as a unit, it seems possible to develop such abundant supplies of water that Allen Hazen, consulting engineer of New York, in a recent report is led to remark "the problem is to find a market for so much water."
In his report, a comprehensive one on the water requirements of the New Jersey Metropolitan district and the sources available for meeting them, submitted to the Board of Conservation and Development of New Jersey by Mr. Hazen, he has condensed into 70 pages possibly the most complete consideration of the water resources of northern New Jersey that has been made in recent years; and although none of the schemes proposed have been developed in their details, the relative advantages, both physical and financial, appear to have been determined with sufficient definiteness to permit the formulation of general plans of procedure for future development."
"Philadelphia and New York City were not alone in their search for water in the early 1920s. New Jersey also had its water needs, particularly in the densely populated North Jersey area. More than two million people lived in North Jersey, and the area had an annual growth rate greater than that of New York City. Beginning in 1921 New Jersey and its North Jersey Water Supply District would begin a series of water studies for North Jersey.
The first, the Hazen study, done for the New Jersey Department of Conservation and Development, came up with four potential water-supply projects for North Jersey."
"Three times the water needed to supply the population of the New Jersey Metropolitan District in 1970, or 2,500 m.g.d. for an estimated population of 5,600,000, could readily be provided by supplementing existing supplies by additional reservoirs and conduits, and still leave untouched a large possible supply in the southern part of the state according to a report by Allen Hazen of Hazen, Whipple & Fuller, New York City, submitted to the Jersey Board of Conservation and Development."
“Two and one-half billion gallons of water daily, or three times the need of the 5,600,000 estimated population to be supplied in 1970 by the 33 water-works systems now operating in the six counties on the west side of the Hudson River, could readily be provided for wholesale delivery to the several works by a New Jersey Metropolitan Water Board of three capable men empowered to take over existing sources of supply, enlarge them to their full capacity and supplement them with new developments, according to a report by Hazen, Whipple & Fuller, civil engineers, New York City to the State Department of Conservation and Development of New Jersey.”
FIG. 1. FOUR POSSIBLE ADDITIONAL WATER SUPPLIES - FOR NEW JERSEY METROPOLITAN DISTRICT
Any one of these, combined with existing sources, would serve the district for decades to come without recourse to one of the Delaware River plans.
PASSAIC GREAT RESERVOIR (Lower Passaic)
"Passaic Great Reservoir:—A large part of the present supply for the district is drawn from the Passaic river and its tributaries, the largest being Newark's supply from the Pequannock, a tributary of the Passaic in the northern part of the state. One of the two sources of supply for the district which are considered most favorably by Mr. Hazen comprises the Passaic and all its tributaries above LittÍe Falls. A dam would be built a short distance above Little Falls, which would create a reservoir called "Passaic Great Reservoir," which would extend 18 miles from north to south and would have an area of 61 square miles. One of the great advantages of this development would be that this reservoir would serve as an equalizing reservoir to prevent floods, such as the disastrous one of 1903. The chief disadvantage is the very large amount oÍ land which must be purchased. It is not practicable to make the reservoir any smaller by constructing a lower dam, since a large part of the area to be fiooded is practically level and any less height of dam would produce on thousands of acres shallower water than is considered desirable for a water works reservoir. It is estimated that the purchase of sites and payment of damages for this development would cost $39,000,000 out of the total estimated cost of $93,000,000. This reservoir would lie northwest of Newark, Jersey City and the other most thickly settled parts of the Metropolitan district, and could utilize the pipes and conduits now used for bringing supplies from this watershed, although these, of course, would have to be supplemented in the near future."
"[One choice among several possibilities to raise the present yields to the 820 m.g.d. needed in 1970 is] a reservoir on the Lower Passaic to be formed by a long dam at Little Falls [...] The Passaic Great Reservoir above Little Falls would not only provide a large water supply, but it would also solve the Passaic flood problem—a smaller reservoir for flood protection was proposed here after the great flood of 1903—and would eliminate large areas of mosquito breeding grounds, but this project would require a large outlay at the start long before all the stored water would be needed for consumption."
"Passaic Great Reservoir—A dam 7,700 ft. long at the flow line, built across the Passaic River above Little Falls would store 290 billion gallons of water, of which 220 would be available above the proposed low water flow line of 180 ft. above tidewater, the available draft of water being only 20 ft. This reservoir would afford an equalized yield of 757 m.g.d., of which 80 m.g.d. would be allowed to flow down the stream for industrial purposes and river sanitation, leaving 667 m.g.d. available for public water supply. In addition, the Passaic Great Reservoir would prevent floods on the lower Passaic, one of which in 1903 caused immense damage and led to the recommendation of a reservoir on this very same site for flood control, but with a lower flow line than is now proposed. This reservoir would also flood large areas of meadow which now create a great nuisance through mosquito breeding.
Two drawbacks to the Passaic Great Reservoir are the necessity of providing the entire storage at once, involving high unit cost while the consumption is relatively low, and also the number of buildings existing on portions of the 61.5 miles that would be covered by the reservoir. Dwellings of all kinds that would be flooded total 2,150, but many of these are below the level of the 1903 flood. The reservoir would also flood four water-works plants including the stations for pumping from wells for the supply of East Orange and the Commonwealth Water Co.
The water power at Pompton Lake would be submerged and also the Du Pont powder works at Wayne. It is estimated that the buildings and industries that would be submerged by the Passaic Great Reservoir are equivalent to what would be “found in an average city of 10,000 or 12,000 inhabitants.” Both the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western R.R. and the Greenwood Lake Division of the Erie R.R. cross the reservoir, besides many important highways, all of which would require more or less relocation. It would also be necessary to build a trunk sewer to divert the sewage of several small towns to a point below Little Falls.
It may be noted in passing that if the Passaic Great Reservoir were not built there would still be made available by existing and proposed storage on some of the Passaic tributaries a considerable total volume of water which in no way would affect the yield from what may be termed the rival Passaic storage system (Long Hill) to be described next. It may also be noted that if the Passaic Great Reservoir were not built and the Long Hill reservoir was constructed, then the storage now being developed on the Wanaque could be sent down the stream beds of the Wanaque, Pompton and Passaic Rivers and be utilized by means of the pumping and filter plant at Little Falls."
PASSAIC GREAT RESERVOIR.
FIG. 2. PASSAIC GREAT RESERVOIR AND PRESENT CONDUITS
This reservoir would have an area of 61.5 sq. miles, and store 296 billion gallons of water. It would solve not only the water-supply but also the Passaic flood problem. It would submerge the Newark pipe lines from the Pequannock and the Jersey City conduit from the Rockaway and many miles of rail road and highway.
LONG HILL RESERVOIR (Upper Passaic)
"Long Hill Reservoir:—The only other supply which seems to Mr. Hazen to warrant serious consideration for potable purposes for the immediate future is that called Long Hill reservoir. As will be referred to later on, Mr. Hazen suggests the development of other supplies for manufacturing purposes solely. The Long Hill reservoir site is at the headwaters of the Passaic river west of Newark and Elizabeth and is formed naturally by a narrow ridge of trap rock eight miles long on one side, hills rising to considerable height on the other side of the valley, and a terminal moraine of ample proportion marking the northern limit of the reservoir. This moraine at its thinnest point is half a mile through at the level of the proposed water line and is a mile or more wide throughout most of its length. By building a dam on trap rock 110 feet high and 850 feet long, 24 square miles of this area would be flooded and a reservoir formed with a capacity of 328,000 million gallons, which is more than twice the size of the Ashokan reservoir and would be by far the largest water supply reservoir in the world.
The one unfortunate feature of the Long Hill reservoir is that there is little water immediately available for filling it. In order to remedy this it is proposed to tunnel under the hills lying immediately west and thus tap ten other main streams, which would furnish an abundance of water. In fact, the chain of tunnels and lakes feeding Long Hill reservoir could be extended entirely across the state to Flat Brook, which is only a mile from the Delaware River and 150 feet above it, and it would be possible to pump Delaware River water into the system either continuously or during that part of the year when the flow of the river is ample. The capacity of the storage reservoir would be such that practically the entire runoff of all the watersheds could be utilized. These sheds would be those of the northern branch of the Raritan, south branch of the Raritan, Musconetcong, Pequest, Beaver Brook, Paulins-kill and Flat Brook. These would give a total catchment area of 645 square miles tributary to Long Hill reservoir.
The Long Hill reservoir would flood land on which are now found 781 dwelling houses, several grist mills, greenhouses, etc. About 40,000 people live on the entire catchment area, which population has not increased during the past 20 years. A small part of Morristown naturally drains toward the reservoir, but that city is already completely sewered, and the sewage is pumped to disposal works outside the catchment area. The Long Hill reservoir would receive an excellent character of water, although the precaution should be taken of filtering it and treating it with chlorine or other disinfectant, and the elevation, 320 feet above sea level, is such that the greater part of the area could be served by gravity. Moreover, it would require a tunnel only 19 miles long to bring the water to Newark and Jersey City and thus connect with the mains throughout the entire district."
"The favored alternative was the so-called Long Hill project, which called for eight interconnected reservoirs to be built over many decades. The Long Hill reservoir near Morristown was to be built first. As growth occurred, reservoirs were to be built on various Delaware River tributaries. The final stage in the project was the construction of a pump station on the Delaware River near Wallpack Bend. The pump station was to pump Delaware River water to a nearby reservoir on Flat Brook. The entire system would provide at least 1,500 mgd, or twice the amount of water North Jersey would need by 1970. Nothing was built as a result of the study, however."
"[One choice among several possibilities to raise the present yields to the 820 m.g.d. needed in 1970 is] a short dam on the Upper Passaic at or near Millington [...] The Upper Passaic or Long Hill Reservoir has the advantages of (1) proximity to the great centers of consumption—a tunnel only 19 miles long would reach Jersey City, passing beneath Newark en route—and (2) of low initial cost, since the reservoir named would be only the first of a series extending westward to within a mile of the Delaware River, from which large volumes could be pumped to the most westward reservoir and flow thence by gravity through various aqueducts, streams and reservoirs to Long Hill Reservoir."
"Long Hill Reservoir—Alternative to the Passaic Great Falls Reservoir is the Long Hill Reservoir, supplemented by northern streams, and eventually by pumping from the Delaware River if found desirable. The Long Hill reservoir would be formed by a dam near Millington, on trap rock 110 ft. high and 850 ft long at the flow line, compared with the dam 7,700 ft. long to form the Passaic Great Reservoir. The Long Hill reservoir would have an area of 24 sq.mi., compared with the 61.5 sq. mi. of the Passaic Great Reservoir, but owing to its greater depth [...] the Long Hill reservoir would store 328 billion gallons to the bottom, of which 182 would be available at the proposed low water flow line of 280 ft. above tide level, or a full 100 ft. higher than the low water flow line of the Passaic Great Reservoir at Little Falls. [...] The safe yield from the Long Hill reservoir system is placed at 619 m.g.d.—without any pumping from the Delaware River. This amount plus what can be obtained from the Passaic and its tributaries entirely below this reservoir and from various other sources available would be more than is needed to supply the New Jersey Metropolitan District for fifty years to come.
Water-supply rights of the Morris Canal in Lake Hopatcong, in Greenwood Lake, and other bodies of water in the Passaic catchment area would not be interfered with under the development scheme proposed by Mr. Hazen. Should this canal be abandoned [as has been proposed for years past is provided for in a bill that passed the New Jersey Legislature last week] and these rights become available for municipal water supply there would be some addition to the yield from the Passaic projects."
PLAN OF LONG HILL SYSTEM.
FIG. 3. THE LONG HILL RESERVOIRS AND AQUEDUCTS
The Long Hill Reservoir alone would have an area of 21 sq. miles and store 238 billion gallons. Minor reservoirs would be built as required and altogether would add 112 billion gallons of storage. Ultimately water could be pumped from the Delaware River to the farther reservoir and flow thence by gravity to the main reservoir.
FIG. 4. EXISTING AND PROPOSED CONDUITS IN NEW JERSEY METROPOLITAN WATER DISTRICT
A 19-mile pressure tunnel and various pipe lines would connect the Long Hill Reservoir with the existing pipe lines of the 33 municipal and private water-works systems in the district.
PROFILE OF LONG HILL SYSTEM.
RARITAN RIVER
"Two other sites were considered at some length, one of these a reservoir on the Raritan river a little west of the center of the state [...] The Raritan project would cost a little more than the Passaic Great Reservoir, with less capacity, and would require considerably more pumping and longer aqueducts."
"[One alternative] involved the construction of a reservoir on the Raritan River above Somerville, New Jersey. While this reservoir was large enough to satisfy North Jersey's needs for some time, it was proposed that the reservoir be augmented by pumping Delaware River water into the Raritan river near Clinton, New Jersey, when additional growth required more water. A pump station was planned on the Delaware near Belvidere."
RARITAN SYSTEM.
OTHER RESERVOIRS
"[The other site considered was] an impounding of the Mullica and Wading rivers, about three-quarters of the way down the state, or southeast of Camden. [This site] is too distant to consider unless other sources were unavailable, and in addition should probably be reserved for the needs of the southern part of the state."
[No label needed for this one, it's just from that map of the whole state.]
"Instead of the Long Hill reservoir, [a 1912 restudying of the Long Hill System by New Jersey's North Jersey Water Supply District] recommended the construction of Chimney Rock reservoir near Bound Brook. The Chimney Rock proposal also expanded west to New Jersey's Delaware River tributaries. The final stage in this system was to be the construction of a pump station on the Delaware River near Belvidere.
Although the cities of Newark and Elizabeth verbally agreed to build the Chimney Rock project in 1927, it was never built. [No map showing what this one would look like.]
Alternatives to the Long Hill and Chimney Rock systems would be studied at different times, but none of these was built either."
Something much closer to home for me, a couple of reservoir plans made by the NJ Dept. of Conservation and Development's Hazen study - named after its creator Allen Hazen - in the early 1920s and some other proposals made at later dates. I figured I'd digitize a lot of the text from these 3 sources since it's fairly interesting reading (or as interesting as it can get considering the subject matter).
- "Water Resources of New Jersey" in Municipal Journal & Public Works, Volume 52, pgs. 225-228, 240-241 (in black)
- Damming the Delaware: The Rise and Fall of Tocks Island Dam, pgs. 15-16 (in blue)
- "Vast Supplies of Water for Jersey District" in Engineering News-Record (Volume LXXXVIIII), pg. 372 (in red)
- "Huge Water Storage Projects for New Jersey District" in Engineering News-Record (Volume LXXXVIII), pgs. 430-435 (in purple)
More info about reservoirs on the Passaic River can be found here under "Historic Background and Opinions Re Flood Control in the Passaic River Valley" in Water Resources Development, 1976: Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Water Resources of the Committee on Public Works and Transportation, House of Representatives, Ninety-fourth Congress, Second Session.
INTRODUCTION
"A number of the communities in the northern part of New Jersey have in recent years endeavored to devise means or locate sources by which they might improve or enlarge their water supplies, but most of them without success. However, by state or co-operative action aimed to serve the entire Metropolitan district of that state as a unit, it seems possible to develop such abundant supplies of water that Allen Hazen, consulting engineer of New York, in a recent report is led to remark "the problem is to find a market for so much water."
In his report, a comprehensive one on the water requirements of the New Jersey Metropolitan district and the sources available for meeting them, submitted to the Board of Conservation and Development of New Jersey by Mr. Hazen, he has condensed into 70 pages possibly the most complete consideration of the water resources of northern New Jersey that has been made in recent years; and although none of the schemes proposed have been developed in their details, the relative advantages, both physical and financial, appear to have been determined with sufficient definiteness to permit the formulation of general plans of procedure for future development."
"Philadelphia and New York City were not alone in their search for water in the early 1920s. New Jersey also had its water needs, particularly in the densely populated North Jersey area. More than two million people lived in North Jersey, and the area had an annual growth rate greater than that of New York City. Beginning in 1921 New Jersey and its North Jersey Water Supply District would begin a series of water studies for North Jersey.
The first, the Hazen study, done for the New Jersey Department of Conservation and Development, came up with four potential water-supply projects for North Jersey."
"Three times the water needed to supply the population of the New Jersey Metropolitan District in 1970, or 2,500 m.g.d. for an estimated population of 5,600,000, could readily be provided by supplementing existing supplies by additional reservoirs and conduits, and still leave untouched a large possible supply in the southern part of the state according to a report by Allen Hazen of Hazen, Whipple & Fuller, New York City, submitted to the Jersey Board of Conservation and Development."
“Two and one-half billion gallons of water daily, or three times the need of the 5,600,000 estimated population to be supplied in 1970 by the 33 water-works systems now operating in the six counties on the west side of the Hudson River, could readily be provided for wholesale delivery to the several works by a New Jersey Metropolitan Water Board of three capable men empowered to take over existing sources of supply, enlarge them to their full capacity and supplement them with new developments, according to a report by Hazen, Whipple & Fuller, civil engineers, New York City to the State Department of Conservation and Development of New Jersey.”
FIG. 1. FOUR POSSIBLE ADDITIONAL WATER SUPPLIES - FOR NEW JERSEY METROPOLITAN DISTRICT
Any one of these, combined with existing sources, would serve the district for decades to come without recourse to one of the Delaware River plans.
PASSAIC GREAT RESERVOIR (Lower Passaic)
"Passaic Great Reservoir:—A large part of the present supply for the district is drawn from the Passaic river and its tributaries, the largest being Newark's supply from the Pequannock, a tributary of the Passaic in the northern part of the state. One of the two sources of supply for the district which are considered most favorably by Mr. Hazen comprises the Passaic and all its tributaries above LittÍe Falls. A dam would be built a short distance above Little Falls, which would create a reservoir called "Passaic Great Reservoir," which would extend 18 miles from north to south and would have an area of 61 square miles. One of the great advantages of this development would be that this reservoir would serve as an equalizing reservoir to prevent floods, such as the disastrous one of 1903. The chief disadvantage is the very large amount oÍ land which must be purchased. It is not practicable to make the reservoir any smaller by constructing a lower dam, since a large part of the area to be fiooded is practically level and any less height of dam would produce on thousands of acres shallower water than is considered desirable for a water works reservoir. It is estimated that the purchase of sites and payment of damages for this development would cost $39,000,000 out of the total estimated cost of $93,000,000. This reservoir would lie northwest of Newark, Jersey City and the other most thickly settled parts of the Metropolitan district, and could utilize the pipes and conduits now used for bringing supplies from this watershed, although these, of course, would have to be supplemented in the near future."
"[One choice among several possibilities to raise the present yields to the 820 m.g.d. needed in 1970 is] a reservoir on the Lower Passaic to be formed by a long dam at Little Falls [...] The Passaic Great Reservoir above Little Falls would not only provide a large water supply, but it would also solve the Passaic flood problem—a smaller reservoir for flood protection was proposed here after the great flood of 1903—and would eliminate large areas of mosquito breeding grounds, but this project would require a large outlay at the start long before all the stored water would be needed for consumption."
"Passaic Great Reservoir—A dam 7,700 ft. long at the flow line, built across the Passaic River above Little Falls would store 290 billion gallons of water, of which 220 would be available above the proposed low water flow line of 180 ft. above tidewater, the available draft of water being only 20 ft. This reservoir would afford an equalized yield of 757 m.g.d., of which 80 m.g.d. would be allowed to flow down the stream for industrial purposes and river sanitation, leaving 667 m.g.d. available for public water supply. In addition, the Passaic Great Reservoir would prevent floods on the lower Passaic, one of which in 1903 caused immense damage and led to the recommendation of a reservoir on this very same site for flood control, but with a lower flow line than is now proposed. This reservoir would also flood large areas of meadow which now create a great nuisance through mosquito breeding.
Two drawbacks to the Passaic Great Reservoir are the necessity of providing the entire storage at once, involving high unit cost while the consumption is relatively low, and also the number of buildings existing on portions of the 61.5 miles that would be covered by the reservoir. Dwellings of all kinds that would be flooded total 2,150, but many of these are below the level of the 1903 flood. The reservoir would also flood four water-works plants including the stations for pumping from wells for the supply of East Orange and the Commonwealth Water Co.
The water power at Pompton Lake would be submerged and also the Du Pont powder works at Wayne. It is estimated that the buildings and industries that would be submerged by the Passaic Great Reservoir are equivalent to what would be “found in an average city of 10,000 or 12,000 inhabitants.” Both the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western R.R. and the Greenwood Lake Division of the Erie R.R. cross the reservoir, besides many important highways, all of which would require more or less relocation. It would also be necessary to build a trunk sewer to divert the sewage of several small towns to a point below Little Falls.
It may be noted in passing that if the Passaic Great Reservoir were not built there would still be made available by existing and proposed storage on some of the Passaic tributaries a considerable total volume of water which in no way would affect the yield from what may be termed the rival Passaic storage system (Long Hill) to be described next. It may also be noted that if the Passaic Great Reservoir were not built and the Long Hill reservoir was constructed, then the storage now being developed on the Wanaque could be sent down the stream beds of the Wanaque, Pompton and Passaic Rivers and be utilized by means of the pumping and filter plant at Little Falls."
PASSAIC GREAT RESERVOIR.
FIG. 2. PASSAIC GREAT RESERVOIR AND PRESENT CONDUITS
This reservoir would have an area of 61.5 sq. miles, and store 296 billion gallons of water. It would solve not only the water-supply but also the Passaic flood problem. It would submerge the Newark pipe lines from the Pequannock and the Jersey City conduit from the Rockaway and many miles of rail road and highway.
LONG HILL RESERVOIR (Upper Passaic)
The one unfortunate feature of the Long Hill reservoir is that there is little water immediately available for filling it. In order to remedy this it is proposed to tunnel under the hills lying immediately west and thus tap ten other main streams, which would furnish an abundance of water. In fact, the chain of tunnels and lakes feeding Long Hill reservoir could be extended entirely across the state to Flat Brook, which is only a mile from the Delaware River and 150 feet above it, and it would be possible to pump Delaware River water into the system either continuously or during that part of the year when the flow of the river is ample. The capacity of the storage reservoir would be such that practically the entire runoff of all the watersheds could be utilized. These sheds would be those of the northern branch of the Raritan, south branch of the Raritan, Musconetcong, Pequest, Beaver Brook, Paulins-kill and Flat Brook. These would give a total catchment area of 645 square miles tributary to Long Hill reservoir.
The Long Hill reservoir would flood land on which are now found 781 dwelling houses, several grist mills, greenhouses, etc. About 40,000 people live on the entire catchment area, which population has not increased during the past 20 years. A small part of Morristown naturally drains toward the reservoir, but that city is already completely sewered, and the sewage is pumped to disposal works outside the catchment area. The Long Hill reservoir would receive an excellent character of water, although the precaution should be taken of filtering it and treating it with chlorine or other disinfectant, and the elevation, 320 feet above sea level, is such that the greater part of the area could be served by gravity. Moreover, it would require a tunnel only 19 miles long to bring the water to Newark and Jersey City and thus connect with the mains throughout the entire district."
"The favored alternative was the so-called Long Hill project, which called for eight interconnected reservoirs to be built over many decades. The Long Hill reservoir near Morristown was to be built first. As growth occurred, reservoirs were to be built on various Delaware River tributaries. The final stage in the project was the construction of a pump station on the Delaware River near Wallpack Bend. The pump station was to pump Delaware River water to a nearby reservoir on Flat Brook. The entire system would provide at least 1,500 mgd, or twice the amount of water North Jersey would need by 1970. Nothing was built as a result of the study, however."
"[One choice among several possibilities to raise the present yields to the 820 m.g.d. needed in 1970 is] a short dam on the Upper Passaic at or near Millington [...] The Upper Passaic or Long Hill Reservoir has the advantages of (1) proximity to the great centers of consumption—a tunnel only 19 miles long would reach Jersey City, passing beneath Newark en route—and (2) of low initial cost, since the reservoir named would be only the first of a series extending westward to within a mile of the Delaware River, from which large volumes could be pumped to the most westward reservoir and flow thence by gravity through various aqueducts, streams and reservoirs to Long Hill Reservoir."
"Long Hill Reservoir—Alternative to the Passaic Great Falls Reservoir is the Long Hill Reservoir, supplemented by northern streams, and eventually by pumping from the Delaware River if found desirable. The Long Hill reservoir would be formed by a dam near Millington, on trap rock 110 ft. high and 850 ft long at the flow line, compared with the dam 7,700 ft. long to form the Passaic Great Reservoir. The Long Hill reservoir would have an area of 24 sq.mi., compared with the 61.5 sq. mi. of the Passaic Great Reservoir, but owing to its greater depth [...] the Long Hill reservoir would store 328 billion gallons to the bottom, of which 182 would be available at the proposed low water flow line of 280 ft. above tide level, or a full 100 ft. higher than the low water flow line of the Passaic Great Reservoir at Little Falls. [...] The safe yield from the Long Hill reservoir system is placed at 619 m.g.d.—without any pumping from the Delaware River. This amount plus what can be obtained from the Passaic and its tributaries entirely below this reservoir and from various other sources available would be more than is needed to supply the New Jersey Metropolitan District for fifty years to come.
Water-supply rights of the Morris Canal in Lake Hopatcong, in Greenwood Lake, and other bodies of water in the Passaic catchment area would not be interfered with under the development scheme proposed by Mr. Hazen. Should this canal be abandoned [as has been proposed for years past is provided for in a bill that passed the New Jersey Legislature last week] and these rights become available for municipal water supply there would be some addition to the yield from the Passaic projects."
PLAN OF LONG HILL SYSTEM.
FIG. 3. THE LONG HILL RESERVOIRS AND AQUEDUCTS
The Long Hill Reservoir alone would have an area of 21 sq. miles and store 238 billion gallons. Minor reservoirs would be built as required and altogether would add 112 billion gallons of storage. Ultimately water could be pumped from the Delaware River to the farther reservoir and flow thence by gravity to the main reservoir.
FIG. 4. EXISTING AND PROPOSED CONDUITS IN NEW JERSEY METROPOLITAN WATER DISTRICT
A 19-mile pressure tunnel and various pipe lines would connect the Long Hill Reservoir with the existing pipe lines of the 33 municipal and private water-works systems in the district.
PROFILE OF LONG HILL SYSTEM.
RARITAN RIVER
"[One alternative] involved the construction of a reservoir on the Raritan River above Somerville, New Jersey. While this reservoir was large enough to satisfy North Jersey's needs for some time, it was proposed that the reservoir be augmented by pumping Delaware River water into the Raritan river near Clinton, New Jersey, when additional growth required more water. A pump station was planned on the Delaware near Belvidere."
RARITAN SYSTEM.
OTHER RESERVOIRS
[No label needed for this one, it's just from that map of the whole state.]
"Instead of the Long Hill reservoir, [a 1912 restudying of the Long Hill System by New Jersey's North Jersey Water Supply District] recommended the construction of Chimney Rock reservoir near Bound Brook. The Chimney Rock proposal also expanded west to New Jersey's Delaware River tributaries. The final stage in this system was to be the construction of a pump station on the Delaware River near Belvidere.
Although the cities of Newark and Elizabeth verbally agreed to build the Chimney Rock project in 1927, it was never built. [No map showing what this one would look like.]
Alternatives to the Long Hill and Chimney Rock systems would be studied at different times, but none of these was built either."
Last edited:
Hydrographic proposals are rare in this thread when IMO should be more common, things like the Rampart Dam should be mentioned more often