Niagara Power Project Reservoir | water

 water, reservoir

 Upload a photo

This 1,900-acre reservoir serves as a storage point for diverted Niagara River water which is used to produce power at the Robert Moses Niagara Power Plant and Lewiston Pump-Generating Plant. It was created by building a 55 foot dike all around the six miles of its perimeter.

Dammed and controlled by the Lewiston Pump-Generating Plant, the reservoir is used to augment the roughly 375,000 gallons per second of water diverted into the Robert Moses Power Plant from the Niagara River during peak demand periods. Water pumped out of the reservoir by the Lewiston Plant creates electricity when it passes through the 12 reverse-running pump/turbines and enters the 740 million gallon forebay between the two plants. From here, the water passes through the 15 turbines of the Robert Moses Plant and is used a second time to create electricity before it is returned to the Niagara River.

The reservoir abuts the Tuscarora Indian Reservation on its eastern edge. Part of the original reservation was taken by eminent domain in order to construct the reservoir.

www.nypa.gov/facilities/niagara.htm