Constructed in the late 1930s, the Point Peter Reservoir has been the Village of Gowanda’s primary water source for nearly a century. Originally designed to store up to 16 million gallons of raw water for 2,800 residents, the system included a 4.25-acre reservoir, a 200 ft earth dam, and a concrete spillway with manual gates. Modernization in the 1960s added rapid sand filtration, a 1.7-million-gallon finished water reservoir, and a 6 ft diameter bypass culvert, remaining largely unchanged until disaster struck in 2014.
The heavy rainfall overwhelmed nearby creeks and tributaries, causing significant damage to the reservoir, forebay, and trash rack as well as nearby mature trees and adjacent roads. The storm rendered the reservoir, which acts as the Village’s primary water source, unusable, forcing officials to temporarily employ backup water wells for the community’s drinking water supply.
The GPI team assisted the Village with engineering and reconstruction efforts. The design called for replacement of the existing undersized corrugated metal Point Peter Brook by-pass culvert with a resized, concrete structure, removal of the existing forebay, cleaning and regrading the reservoir, and regrading the stream channel. Additionally, the nearby Allen Spring was repaired with new telemetry installed. Construction was finalized in the spring of 2025.
Project Highlights
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Owner/ClientGowanda Point Peter Reservoir
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LocationGowanda, NY
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ServicesCivil Engineering
Construction Inspection
Structural Engineering
Topography
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