The Blue Marsh Reservoir, Leesport, PA., Delaware Watershed Tour 2017, 2nd stop

(pretty far from the Delaware River, but still in its watershed)

If you’ve flown west out of New York City or Newark (if your face is pasted to the window as mine usually is) you’ll notice an array of what looks like blue pearls scattered over New Jersey/New York/ Pennsylvania’s hills. Some of those are natural lakes, and many are reservoirs.

Some reservoirs serve a specific local community, and can be looked after by many different authorities. The biggest reservoirs are those operated by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection for the water supply for New York City. Some reservoirs serve the whole Delaware River watershed and they are the responsibility of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

We’ve just visited one of them — F.E.Walter Dam in White Haven, Pa., and here’s another: Blue Marsh Lake in Lessport, Pa. It was built on the Tulpehocken Creek, a tributary of the Schuylkill River, protecting downstream communities on and near the Schuylkill.

As it says on its informative web page: http://www.nap.usace.army.mil/…/Civil-Works/Blue-Marsh-Lake/

“While the main purpose of Blue Marsh was to provide flood control to part of the Schuylkill River Valley, over the years the lake has become a recreational hotspot.”

On a sunny day in July the beach is crowded with happy families, and the parking lot is full. Best to get here early! Its Facebook page — Blue Marsh Lake — has a list of upcoming activities. The one that caught my eye (since I am an infrastructure nerd) is a tour of the control tower on July 20th.

Here’s a map of the reservoirs that are most important for the Delaware River watershed, from the ever informative website of the Delaware River Basin Commission: http://www.nj.gov/drbc/library/documents/maps/reservoirs.pdf