New Rochelle Reservoir 3 (as well as 1 and 2) are on the Hutchinson River, in southern Westchester. I got curious about them after the post about tubing on it, and tried to see if I could find anything online about which municipality or regulatory agency claims them.
They are not part of the Croton watershed, as the Hutch drains to the LI Sound. They are not listed on the DEP website as reservoirs owned by NYC. See
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/watershed_protection/html/reservoirs.htmlNew Rochelle and surrounding townships (Eastchester, Bronxville, etc.) buy water from the DEP via its aqueducts and pumping stations in lower Westchester, via United Water, so it does not seem that these reservoirs are likely to be water supply reservoirs. See
http://www.unitedwater.com/uwnr/wtrspply.htm.
My guess is that they were originally built as flood control reservoirs, rather than water supply, and as such are not part of the DEP system or regulated by it. Google maps shows that Reservoirs 2 and 3 are within Twin Lakes County Park. See
Thus, my guess is that they are owned by Westchester County, and therefore subject to standard NYSDEC regulations and whatever rules are applied by the county parks department. The Westchester Parks website lists Twin Lakes as having fishing activities, but does not include it in the page on boating activities. This suggests that it is likely that boats are not permitted, but you should check with the parks department for the specific rules of Reservoir 3. See
http://www.westchestergov.com/parks/Parks.htmThere are many such small lakes and reservoirs in Westchester where fishing is permitted, but not boats. I think that generally float tubes would be classified as a boat by bureaucrats and law enforcement officers, so you may be taking a chance of a fine if you use one where boating is not permitted.
Even if float tube boats and waders are materially similar, I suspect that the rules have less to do with the material of which they are made, and more to do with the risk that the county or other responsible agency is willing to sustain.
Wading is less likely to result in drowning than floating in a boat or a tube, and thus will result in fewer lawsuits when people do the stupid things they typically do and then seek to enrich themselves by blaming somebody else for their own stupidity. One of the problems that ends up limiting our access to public resources.
Simplest solution: let's send all the lawyers out in leaky float tubes.
