Woodcliff Lake Reservoir

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Woodcliff Lake is the name of a reservoir in Woodcliff Lake and portions of Hillsdale, in Bergen County, New Jersey. It was created circa 1903 by damming the Pascack Brook. The creation of the lake led what had been the Borough of Woodcliff to change its name to Woodcliff Lake, to match the name of the new reservoir. The reservoir is owned by United Water, a private utility.

The reservoir contains approximately one billion US gallons (3,800,000 m³) of water. Water released into the Pascack Brook flows downstream into the Oradell Reservoir. When the water levels become low, the old stone bridge over the Pascack Brook becomes visible just south of the causeway.

Several species of fish inhabit the reservoir including largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, carp, pumpkinseed, bluegill, brown and yellow bullheads, as well as large schools of both yellow and white perch. Fishing is restricted to those with a valid New Jersey Fishing License^[1] and a Watershed Permit^[2] obtained by payment of a yearly fee to the owner of the reservoir, United Water. Numerous waterfowl including various species of ducks and heron also live on and around the resovior^[3].

The reservoir may be crossed at two points, either by a narrow road over the dam, Church Road, or a higher traffic county road over a causeway, Woodcliff Avenue. On the eastern side of the reservoir is the New Jersey Transit Pascack Valley Line, with the Woodcliff Lake station stop at Woodcliff Avenue.

On March 11, 2003, Governor of New Jersey Jim McGreevey visited the nearby Lake Tappan reservoir and proposed protecting it, Woodcliff Lake and their tributaries with Category 1 water purity status^[4].