The Gilboa Dam is located at the Schoharie Reservoir in the Catskill Mountains of New York State – approximately 110 miles northwest of New York City. It was the fourteenth reservoir to be created in a series of nineteen, in order to supply water to the City of New York – and is one of two reservoirs located in this area.

The City of New York purchased the town of Gilboa and the outlying areas in the early 1920’s. The existing town was relocated and the area specific to the dam was prepared for construction of the dam. The dam was completed and put into service in 1926, supplying 9M people with approximately 16% of their annual water requirements. Although the Schoharie is considered one of the smallest reservoirs utilized by the City of New York, its basin is six miles long and holds 17.6B gallons at full capacity. The water from this reservoir flows over 119 miles through the Shandaken Tunnel, into the Esopus Creek and down the Esopus, into the Ashokan Reservoir, finally entering the Catskill Aqueduct to the Kensico Reservoir and then to New York City.

Over the years, the dam has been upgraded to New York safety standards. The last upgrade consisted of a $24M project, completed in 2006, which included resurfacing the face of the dam and installing 80 anchoring cables to pin the dam to the bedrock. A full-scale reconstruction project estimated at $315M is planned for 2008. Included in this project will be the installation of floodgates, as well as an increase in the size of the dam. The project will also include the creation of a tunnel bypass so water can be safely released from the reservoir to the Schoharie Creek – the original source of water for the reservoir.