Pure water in the city covering the reservoirs on Mount Royal
The questions of how and why water has disappeared in the urban landscape are explored in this study of the uncovered reservoirs of the Montreal water supply system that were destined to be covered. A case study of three reservoirs, the McTavish (open from 1856 to 1948), the Côte-des-Neiges (from 1893 to 1938), and the Vincent d’Indy (from 1915 to 1964), considers how the form and function of these reservoirs changed, as the relationship between environmental factors, technological means and social concerns evolved in the developing city. In response to advantages and challenges of the city’s topography, the reservoirs were built on the flanks of Mount Royal. The potential the reservoirs offer to expand the mountain’s conservation core is explored in a reconsideration of their situation within a belt of institutional properties that delimit the heart of this principal natural and cultural landscape of the city. A shift in the focus of water supply development from quantitative to qualitative concerns, related to the rise of both public health and environmental perspectives, was a principal incentive to covering water supply reservoirs. Nevertheless, the expense of rebuilding the basins as reinforced concrete boxes covered in earth and sod, and the lack of regulations requiring covers on all reservoirs, lead to the process being delayed for decades. Furthermore, the city was in full expansion throughout this period, so that the pressure to increase the capacity of water storage rivalled that of guaranteeing water quality. The resulting focus on efficiency is embodied in the landscapes of the transformed reservoirs, in which little funds or planning resources were invested. Certain unplanned but critical consequences of this transformation are examined: the disassociation of water supply from the urban ecosystem; the loss of visibility of the waterworks; the decreased recognition of their collective value; the confusion about responsibility for these open spaces and a related lack of upkeep; the concealment of water supply and other technological functions in the mountain landscape; and the lack of integration of the reservoir sites in plans for the mountain’s conservation.
Conservation Water supply reservoirs History Conservation Mount Royal Landscape