General Information: The
Reservoir that Nearly Was
In 1955 the New Jersey Water Commission was considering the recommendation from a
consulting engineer to create a reservoir on a scale we can scarcely comprehend. The plan
called for a dam across the Middle Brook in the gap of the First Watchung Mountain at
Chimney Rock Road. Water would be pumped into the reservoir from the Millstone and Raritan
Rivers. It would have flooded Washington Valley nearly to Mount Vernon Road. In opposition
the League for the Preservation of Washington Valley, chaired by Franklin Bartle, was
formed. The League and the North Jersey Quarry Company had engineers review the plan and
they found serious defects. The issue was made a referendum question on a state wide
election and the fight spread statewide. In the end the referendum was defeated and Round
Valley Reservoir was built instead.
