It all began way back in 1842, when New York City completed and brought online the first Croton Reservoir, located in Westchester County. Years later, in 1905, that water body was enlarged and named the New Croton Reservoir. 

Over the years, the system was continuously expanded, with new reservoirs added as the city’s thirst for more drinking water grew. An elaborate system was developed, with almost all the main streams in Westchester and Putnam County dammed and new lakes formed. They became part of the Croton System. 

The West Branch, Boyds Corners, Croton Falls and Bog Brook Reservoirs were built in western Putnam County. The East Branch and Diverting Reservoirs were constructed in eastern Putnam County. The man-made reservoirs in Putnam County were supplemented by two natural lakes, Glenida and Gilead, in and near the Town of Carmel.

In Westchester County, in addition to the New Croton Reservoir, New York City constructed the Cross River, Titicus, Amawalk, Muscoot and Kensco Reservoirs. The outlets of all those reservoirs, except Kensico, feed Muscoot, which in turn feeds New Croton. 

The Croton Aqueduct pump house is on New Croton Reservoir, where water is diverted to Kensico Reservoir and then flows to Manhattan. 

The Croton System is the oldest, and currently the least used water supply operated by the DEP. 

As New York City’s need for drinking water increased, the DEP began the process of looking to the Catskill Mountains for more water. That resulted in the construction of the Ashokan and Schoharie Reservoirs and the Catskill Aqueduct. The Schoharie Reservoir supplies water to the Ashokan via the tunnel at Shandaken.

There are two basins in the Ashokan: the upper and lower. The upper basin acts as a settling facility for the silt load that comes from the red clay deposits in the Schoharie watershed. The Catskill Aqueduct runs from the Ashokan Reservoir under the Hudson River, directly to Kensico Reservoir, in Valhalla.

In the 1950s, New York City was once again on the hunt for more water, and this time it looked to the Western Catskills for sites to construct new reservoirs. Both branches of the Delaware River were chosen. Pepacton Reservoir was built on the East Branch of the Delaware outside Downsville. Later, Cannonsville Reservoir was brought online near Stillesville. Both of those reservoirs send water to New York City via the Delaware Aqueduct.

Tunnels connect the Pepacton and Cannonsville Reservoirs to the Rondout Reservoir. From Rondout, water is piped to West Branch Reservoir in Putnam County where it is finally diverted to Kensico. 

So here we have this vast system that includes two natural lakes along with several man-made reservoirs. If I counted correctly, there are 22 reservoirs in Westchester and Putnam counties; two in Ulster and Green counties, two in Delaware County and one in Sullivan County. In total, there are 27 reservoirs that not only supply drinking water to Manhattan but also release cold water to the rivers below, which maintain superb trout fisheries. 

In addition, and in recent years, the DEP has liberalized its access policy—which in the past only allowed fishing and rowboats by permit—for a variety of new activities. Folks can now hike and hunt on designated sections of DEP property, and access some reservoirs for pleasure boating, in addition to fishing. Canoes and kayaks can now be used in addition to rowboats. 

All vessels have to be steam cleaned and approved by DEP staff before launch at a specific reservoir. If boats are left at a DEP parking area, they only need to be steam cleaned again if moved and used on another lake. There are storage racks at some locations.

All the DEP reservoirs provide excellent angling opportunities. With the exception of Amawalk and Muscoot, all the others offer superb fishing for brown trout. Some of the reservoirs also have lake trout. The reservoirs also offer world-class fishing for both large- and smallmouth bass. At least one, perhaps more, have good populations of walleyed pike. And most have good populations of yellow perch, sunfish and crappies. 

Then of course there are the tailwaters, where cold bottom-release water provides excellent season-long habitats for trout. The most famous tailwaters are the east and west branches of the Delaware River, the Esopus Creek and the Neversink River—all in the Catskills. 

On the east side of the Hudson, the Amawalk outlet and the east and west branches of the Croton River provide decent angling, mostly for brown trout, all within 25 miles of New York City. 

Without this vast network of reservoirs and cold-water streams, one has to wonder what kind of angling opportunities there would be in the Catskills and in Westchester and Putnam counties without the New York City reservoir system. Keep in mind that there is very little ponded water in the Catskills, and freestone steams get very low and warm during the summer. Therefore angling opportunities would be limited at best. The same can be said for the east side of the Hudson River. 

So in addition to providing drinking water for New York City, the reservoir system provides unlimited angling opportunities and other activities for thousands of people, all within 100 miles of Manhattan. Folks wishing to access the system will need a permit from the DEP and should check the internet for instructions. A web search with the name of any of the reservoirs listed will provide information about the fishery.