Jun 9, 2010
02:13 PM
What is the large body of water visible from Old Huckleberry Road and Route 106?
What is the large body of water visible from Old Huckleberry Road and Route 106?
Although Wilton has no dearth of beautiful scenery, one of the loveliest spots has to be the view from Old Huckleberry looking out across the South Norwalk Reservoir. The reservoir and the land surrounding it are owned by the South Norwalk Electric and Utility Company (SNEW). According to Tom Villa, SNEW director of operations, this man-made reservoir was built over 100 years ago, under the jurisdiction of the second taxing district, a municipal entity created by the state legislature. It supplies water to just over half the city of Norwalk, including Silvermine, Rowayton, South Norwalk, parts of East and West Norwalk, but only 200 or so homes in South Wilton, as the majority of Wilton residents rely on private wells. Roughly 172 surface acres, it is the size of a small lake. In fact, SNEW refers to it as City Lake. A smaller adjacent reservoir, called Rock Lake, built in the 1870s and about 18 surface acres, feeds into it. Both are contained within a 1.3-square-mile area designated as a public supply watershed. To protect the reservoirs from contamination, SNEW prohibits fishing, swimming, ice skating, or any other water activity there. “We sample the water periodically to monitor the quality. Occasionally we have to treat it for algae,” explains Villa. SNEW also maintains the bordering vegetation. “Promoting a healthy forest promotes healthy water. We like to have a good screen of evergreens along the border. Since they don’t lose their leaves, this minimizes the amount of debris falling into the reservoir.” A spillway at the southern end prevents flooding, and from the gatehouse located there, SNEW can manage the amount of water flowing into the treatment facility.
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