124 Third Annual Report of the 



be sold but that a caretaker was to be employed, and the Coin- 

 mission was empowered to make rules and regulations for the use 

 and protection of the property. The Commission was further au- 

 thorized to plot the lands; prepare leases for a term of not to 

 exceed five years, upon such terms and conditions as it saw fit; 

 and also sell water rights. The spirit of the law was that this res- 

 ervation was to be maintained as a resort ; that the people who had 

 erected cottages upon the land should be entitled to leases, and that 

 the administration of the property should be in charge of this 

 Commission. 



Cuba Lake is located in Allegany and Cattaraugus counties, 

 about seventeen miles north of the Pennsylvania line. It is about 

 two miles long and covers 501 acres. There is only one principal 

 inlet which drains an area of about twenty square miles. The en- 

 tire watershed which drains into the lake is twenty-four square 

 miles. The lake is an artificial body of water caused by the erec- 

 tion of a dam across Oil Creek. The dam is about one-quarter of 

 a mile long and sixty feet high. 



Cuba lake, or what was originally called Oil Creek Reservoir, 

 was built as a feeder for the Genesee Valley canal. Construction 

 was started about 1852 and completed about 1858. When com- 

 pleted the area of the lake was about 480 acres. In 1864 the water 

 level was raised approximately four feet when an additional ap- 

 propriation of 10G acres was made. In 1872 the level was again 

 raised about six feet and there was a further acquisition of 120 

 acres. The purpose of such enlargement was to furnish additional 

 water for canal use during the summer months. The canal was 

 abandoned in 1878, and after some years the prism of the canal 

 was sold for railroad purposes. The reservoir and adjacent prop- 

 erty were retained by the State and the water remained at the high 

 point for approximately twenty years. About the year 1889, at 

 the time of the Johnstown flood, the residents of the village of 

 Cuba became alarmed for fear that the dam was not in a safe 

 condition and the spillway was at that time lowered seven and one- 

 half feet. The water has since remained at that level. The area 

 of State land not flooded at present is 221 acres. 



When the reservoir was constructed, the land was taken by a 

 permanent appropriation, the amount acquired being determined 



