896 



PARKS 



either side of the river, etc. It was authorized to 

 acquire lands both in the City of New York and in the 

 County of Westchester just north of New York. There 

 was considerable delay in getting the approval of New 

 York City, so that the Commission did not begin to 

 function until 1913. In 1914 the Commission adopted 

 two sanitary regulations, as follows: 



1. No sewage, factory wastes, oils, oily substances 

 or pollution of any kind or character shall be discharged 

 into the Bronx River or upon lands in the reservation, 

 or into any tributary stream, storm sewer or drain 

 flowing into the Bronx River. 



2. No ashes, garbage, fecal matter, waste paper, 

 excavated materials, old metal or refuse matter of any 

 character shall be deposited in or near the Bronx River 

 or upon the lands of the Commission, or in brooks, 

 drains or storm sewers tributary to the river, in such 

 a manner as shall result in polluting the water of the 

 river. 



Under these regulations, the Commission succeeded 

 in clearing up the waters of the Bronx River to such an 

 extent that the Westchester County Park Commission, 

 which is an outgrowth of the Bronx River Parkway 

 Commission, speaks, in its 1924 report, of the Bronx 

 River Commission as having strongly influenced senti- 

 ment in favor of additional parkways to "forestall the 

 recurrence elsewhere of nuisances and unsanitary con- 

 ditions such as formerly existed in the Bronx River 

 Valley." 



In answer to specific questions asked by the secre- 

 tary, the Westchester County Park Commission states 

 as follows: 



1. The territory surrounding our Westchester 

 County Parks ranges from urban to farm lands. 



2. The fresh water streams and lakes in Westchester 

 County are not used to any extent for bathing or recrea- 

 tional purposes. The upper waters of two streams are 



still used for water supply purposes, but it is only a 

 question of ten or fifteen years until the density of 

 population surrounding them will make the water un- 

 safe for use. The Bronx River is used a little for bath- 

 ing, but this probably will be discontinued. The parks 

 along the Hudson River and on the Long Island Sound 

 shore are used for bathing, but the problem of bathing 

 facilities in the interior is being met by the construction 

 of concrete swimming pools in the parks. 



3. Storm water drains are allowed to discharge into 

 the streams not being used for water supply, but sani- 

 tary sewers are not allowed. 



4. The statute creating the Bronx River Parkway 

 Commission gave the Commission authority to pre- 

 serve the waters in the river from pollution by creating 

 a reservation of lands on either side of it. 



5. To provide sewage facilities for the cities, towns 

 and villages along the Bronx River Valley, a special 

 enactment authorized the construction of the Bronx 

 River Valley trunk sewer about eleven miles in length, 

 from North White Plains to the southerly boundary of 

 Westchester County. Municipal and individual sewers 

 formerly discharging into the Bronx River are now 

 connected with this trunk sewer. The construction of 

 the trunk sewer was financed by the county, but is 

 being entirely refunded by assessments against property 

 within the drainage area, paid in yearly installments 

 distributed over thirty years. The Westchester County 

 Park Commission was recently constituted to also act 

 as the Westchester County Sanitary Sewer Commission 

 to prepare and report preliminary plans, including 

 estimates and proposed assessment areas for sanitary 

 trunk sewers and sanitary outlet sewers in the entire 

 County of Westchester. In rapidly developing com- 

 munities there is a demand for outlet sewers, and the 

 intention is to assess the cost against the property ben- 

 efited in long-term installments. 



It is interesting to note the remarks of the chief engineer of the state 

 health department at a conference held in Cleveland March 18, 1926, to 

 consider stream pollution in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. He stated that the 

 state health department now has final jurisdiction over stream pollution. 

 It recognizes that streams are sources of water supply, are means of drain- 

 age, and are means of removing sewage and remains of industrial wastes. 

 In the latter use the state department of health presumes that sewage is 

 rendered "fairly decent" before it is emptied into them. The last use of 

 the streams is very important in the belief of the department. The depart- 

 ment also recognizes that streams are increasingly being used for recrea- 

 tion purposes, but that this use is not necessary, although highly desirable. 

 The position of the state department of health is as follows: It sets up a 

 minimum of treatment which sewage must receive before it is emptied into 

 any stream in the state. The minimum would keep the stream good from 



