ey topographic
maps being used as a base. The measurements are therefore not of refined
accuracy but suffice for the purpose in view--that of showing flood
catchment possibilities.

POMPTON RESERVOIR.

There are in the Pompton system several sites on Ramapo, Wanaque, and
Pequanac rivers which, if utilized, would afford sufficient storage for
flood catchment purposes, but the entire flow of the river system may be
conserved in what has been described as the Pompton reservoir. This
project was first presented by Mr. C. C. Vermeule in the year 1884, the
details being described at some length in the Engineering News, of April
12 of that year, pages 169-171. In this article Mr. Vermeule presented
the possibilities of Pompton reservoir for use as an additional water
supply for the city of New York, at the time when the Quaker Bridge
reservoir on the Croton watershed was being considered. A few pertinent
quotations from this article may be of interest:

This basin, subdivided by minor ridges which cross it, furnishes
several admirable sites for large storage reservoirs, with
catchments from 50 to 400 square miles in area, lying above on the
primitive rock of the Highlands. About 6 miles of the northeastern
end of the basin is cut off by Hook Mountain, a small ridge of trap
which crosses it from east to west, inclosing a basin 21 square
miles in area, known as Pompton Plains, having its outlet at
Mountain View, 5 miles west of Paterson, at a pass in Hook
Mountain, through which the Pompton River flows to join the
Passaic, 2 miles below. This pass is the gateway by which the
Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, the New York and
Greenwood Lake Railway, and the Morris Canal enter the plains. The
basin is also crossed near its head, above Pompton, by the New
York, Susquehanna and Western Railroad.

The Pompton River has a drainage area above Mountain View of 420
square miles. It is formed near the head of the basin by the
confluence of the Pequanac from the northwest, the Wanaque from the
north, and the Ramapo from the northeast. * * *

The entire flow from this watershed may be stored by building a dam
across the gap at Mountain View and converting Pompton Plains into
a great lake covering an area of 21 square miles. The elevation of
the river at the gap is 168 feet. The slopes in the basin being
gentle