Although the reservoir was originally built to secure a reliable water supply for the City of Brooklyn, it is positioned on the Queens side of the border in the neighborhood of Glendale.

The reservoir and park are bounded on the north by the Jackie Robinson Parkway, on the south by Highland Boulevard, on the west by Vermont Place and on the east by Cypress Hills National Cemetery.

This ecosystem attracted a wide variety of fauna and flora, including some threatened and endangered species such as the short-eared owl and pied-billed grebe.

In 2018, the reservoir was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was officially designated by the New York State DEC as a Class I freshwater wetland, ensuring its preservation as a natural space.

[10] This water was carried in a 12-mile-long masonry conduit, called the Ridgewood Aqueduct,[11] to a pumping station at Atlantic Avenue and Chestnut Street.

By 1868 the Ridgewood Reservoir held an average of 154.4 million gallons (584,000 m3) daily, enough to supply the City of Brooklyn for ten days at that time.

By 1900, Lowell, Massachusetts and Newark, New Jersey—two of the nation's most important industrial centers at the time—had both followed Brooklyn's example by installing their own municipal water systems that used driven wells.

Ridgewood Reservoir was expensive to operate because of the need for pumping and was slowly made obsolete by expansion of New York City's Catskill and Delaware water systems.

"[25] In October 2007, New York City Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe unveiled a plan to breach one of the reservoir basins and clear 20 acres (81,000 m2) for new ball fields.

[26] This resulted in a backlash from local residents, environmentalists, and community organizations, who formed the Highland Park-Ridgewood Reservoir Alliance to oppose the plan.

[27] On June 26, 2008, Comptroller of New York City Bill Thompson Jr. rejected the contract for the new development, citing concerns about the environmental impact, increased truck traffic, and the vendor selection process.

[29] The plans illustrated the design and construction of culverts large enough to accommodate trucks and were part of a project that the City Parks Department claimed was necessary to eliminate the risk of flooding.

However, local activists argued that because the reservoir no longer impounds water, it does not pose a risk of flooding and should instead be classified as a Class D "Negligible or No Hazard" dam, rendering the construction of culverts unnecessary.

Environmentalists also argued that building the culverts would violate New York State Environmental Conservation Law by adversely impacting a freshwater wetland habitat.