Annual Report Of The Board Of Water Supply Of The City Of New York

Accompanied by Report of the Chief Engineer.

Excerpt from First Annual Report of the Board of Water Supply of the City of New York: Accompanied by Report of the Chief Engineer, December 31, 1906 Total cost of completed works of five hundred million gallons daily capacity. Letter from Board of Water Supply to Municipal Civil Service Commission requesting exempt positions in Real Estate Bureau. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

On the night of October 18, 1925, fire raged through the downtown area of the tiny Catskill Mountain village of Gilboa, New York. In the end, 18 buildings lie in smoldering ruins. Yet it was not the end of the town, but only a climax to a series of events that were razing the community more slowly. Gilboa was in the way of the Schoharie Reservoir, one of numerous artifical lakes collecting water for thirsty New Yorkers. In Gilboa, author Alexander Thomas traces the evolving dynamics between New York City and its hinterlands and is a must read for those interested in urban and rural issues, social conflict, social movements, and New York state history.

Supplying water to millions is not simply an engineering and logistical challenge. As David Soll shows in his finely observed history of the nation's largest municipal water system, the task of providing water to New Yorkers transformed the natural and built environment of the city, its suburbs, and distant rural watersheds. Almost as soon as New York City completed its first municipal water system in 1842, it began to expand the network, eventually reaching far into the Catskill Mountains, more than one hundred miles from the city. Empire of Water explores the history of New York City's water system from the late nineteenth century to the early twenty-first century, focusing on the geographical, environmental, and political repercussions of the city's search for more water. Soll vividly recounts the profound environmental implications for both city and countryside. Some of the region's most prominent landmarks, such as the High Bridge across the Harlem River, Central Park's Great Lawn, and the Ashokan Reservoir in Ulster County, have their origins in the city's water system. By tracing the evolution of the city's water conservation efforts and watershed management regime, Soll reveals the tremendous shifts in environmental practices and consciousness that occurred during the twentieth century. Few episodes better capture the long-standing upstate-downstate divide in New York than the story of how mountain water came to flow from spigots in Brooklyn and Manhattan. Soll concludes by focusing on the landmark watershed protection agreement signed in 1997 between the city, watershed residents, environmental organizations, and the state and federal governments. After decades of rancor between the city and Catskill residents, the two sides set aside their differences to forge a new model of environmental stewardship. His account of this unlikely environmental success story offers a behind the scenes perspective on the nation's most ambitious and wide-ranging watershed protection program.