Feeding the Canal

Feeding the Canal. . The high ground from Syracuse to Rome, known as the Rome Summit Level, was the first completed section of the canal. Water does not naturally fill this section because of its elevation, but the canal needed to be full to be open. Construction of several reservoirs and canals ensured it had a constant source of water and maintained water level regardless of rainfall or seasonal changes. , Before you lies the Chittenango Canal. As a lateral canal it supplied water directly to the Erie Canal from the meandering waters of Chittenango Creek. Feeder canals allowed towns and businesses direct access to the Erie Canal. Chittenango Canal was one of the first lateral canals built, as well as one of the most successful. , Chittenango Canal , Chittenango Canal Company built this canal in 1817. It collected tolls and maintained the more than mile-long canal which ran to the southern end of modern day Chittenango. The canal contained four locks, each raising the water level 6 feet. Sawmills, stores and other businesses thrived along the canal until about 1852. The State bought it in 1860 and portions were eventually filled in., Rome Summit Level , The Old Erie Canal State Historic Park encompasses all 36 miles of the Rome Summit Level, running from DeWitt to Rome. The park not only preserves this section of the historic canal, but also serves an important purpose today, as this stretch of the old canal feeds today's New York State Barge Canal System. The two canals join in New London, between Oneida Lake and Rome., Where Does the Water Come From? , Cazenovia Lake and Tuscarora Lake are reservoirs that feed Chittenango Creek. Similarly, Jamesville Reservoir feeds Butternut Creek, and DeRuyter Reservoir feeds Limestone Creek. Water from each of these creeks is then diverted into their respective feeders: Chittenango Creek into the Chittenango Canal, Butternut Creek into the Orville Feeder and Limestone Creek into the Fayetteville Feeder.