Cover Image: Nineteen Reservoirs

Nineteen Reservoirs

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Member Reviews

Interesting historical information on NYC waters

This is an interesting title written by Lucy Sante. Nineteen Reservoirs explores the history of the New York City's water supply. The reservoirs, nineteen to be exact, supply NYC, however, they are from different areas of the state of New York. To me, the book was to share the information about the history of the water that is sent to the city, made up of islands and Burroughs, and how it affected the areas where the water came from. Ecosystems changed. Different lands, including existing farms were bought, in order to provide the city. I'm from upstate New York, and wasn't aware of this history, and it is very intriguing. I always love a good historic book, especially nonfiction, and local. Because in New York, there is more than just the city. I hope to read more books by this author. Nineteen Reservoirs is a definite recommendation by Amy's Bookshelf Reviews. I read this book to give my unbiased and honest review. Amy's Bookshelf Reviews recommends that anyone who reads this book, to also write a review.

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This history of how New York City created the reservoirs to supply the city with water is an interesting exploration of the tension between city and country. As the book states at one point, it is very like the old trolley problem of deciding whether to destroy either several people tied to the tracks or only one tied to a second track. In this case, do you allow city residents to run out of water altogether or do you displace many communities in rural areas in order to build reservoirs to reliably supply the city with water? That power struggle is at the heart of the book, along with many historical pictures of before, during, and after the construction of the various reservoirs from the 19th century through the current day. I only wish that the author had brought out some of the positive recreational uses of the reservoirs (fishing and kayaking come to mind) that draw many people to the areas today.

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The design of this book was amazing and it was such a fun read! I found this book super interesting and you could tell how passionate the author was about the topic.

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