![cover image](https://wikiwandv2-19431.kxcdn.com/_next/image?url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d2/Holyoke_Whiting_Street_Reservoir.jpg/640px-Holyoke_Whiting_Street_Reservoir.jpg&w=640&q=50)
Whiting Street Reservoir
Dam in Holyoke, Massachusetts / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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]
![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5f/Whiting_Street_Reservoir_Gatehouse_%281904%29.jpg/640px-Whiting_Street_Reservoir_Gatehouse_%281904%29.jpg)
Whiting Street Reservoir | |
---|---|
![]() Pine stand on the shores of Whiting Reservoir | |
Official name | Whiting Street Reservoir |
Country | United States of America |
Location | Holyoke, Massachusetts |
Coordinates | 42°14′29″N 72°38′10″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 |
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/ |
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]