Restore Hetch Hetchy Valley, Vote Yes! on Proposition F A) 5 billion B . The Hetch Hetchy Valley underwent a monumental transformation when the City Of San Francisco received the approval of Congress in 1913 to build a dam in the Hetch Hetchy Valley, thus storing the water of the Tuolumne River and flooding the valley to a height of over 350 feet. Included with your registration: Two-day guided experience in Yosemite; one day at Hetch Hetchy and one day in Ackerson Meadow (Saturday, May 11, at 8 am, through Sunday, May 12, until about 3 pm). Water could be diverted into the Kirkwood and Moccasin Powerhouses using lower-impact diversion dams, providing power generation on a seasonal basis, and the enlarged height at Don Pedro would also increase power generation there. Us too! The falls roar in spring and early summer. "[65] Harold L. Ickes, Secretary of the Interior in the late 1930s, said there was a violation of the Raker Act, but he and the city reached an agreement in 1945. Furthermore, they provided a place for the wild plants and creatures to live out their own lives, according to their purposes. He wrote, I have always called it the Tuolumne Yosemite, for it is a wonderfully exact counterpart of the great Yosemite, not only in its crystal river and sublime rocks and waterfalls, but in the gardens, groves, and meadows of its flowery park-like floor. It is only a cut in the hills through which the Tuolumne River runs, but if you think there might be a valley keep looking and if you find such a place I will give it to you., Nate went on looking for the valley. . Annie Li, a senior engineer at the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, points to the yellow and brown squiggly lines on the map, revealing our water's path from Hetch Hetchy to the Bay Area. [8] Rancheria Falls is located farther southeast, on Rancheria Creek. The locations of these two formations roughly correspond with those of Cathedral Rocks and El Capitan seen from Tunnel View in Yosemite Valley. The chief replied, There is no valley. The Blackberry Inn Bed and Breakfast is just one of many welcoming businesses located on the way to Hetch Hetchy. The water winds between granite features like Kolana Rock and Hetch Hetchy Dome. Progressive political leaders, of whom Mayor Phelan was one, believed it was time to take this power away from the private interests and turn it over to the people. From this work, we have concluded that it is not wise to reduce water storage facilities considering the realities of a growing population and climate change. That trip is a 19.1-mile (22.9 km) out and back, or you can turn the hike into a loop that returns past Rancheria Falls (28.2 miles, 45.4 km). It has two trailhead options. A full breakfast is served in the dining room. Argument Against The Hetchy Dam - 587 Words - Internet Public Library Wapama Fall is reached via a five-mile, round-trip hike that follows the shoreline of the reservoir with moderate up and downhill hiking. Another Iconic Valley In Yosemite? Report Estimates Tourism Benefits Of To do so, it would either have to buy out the private monopoly at an exorbitant price or outmaneuver or outbid Spring Valley for a potential new reservoir., (Source: Natural Rivals: John Muir, Gifford Pinchot, and the Creation of Americas Public Lands, John Clayton). "[22], The valley's name may be derived from a Miwok word earlier anglicized as hatchhatchie, which means "edible grasses"[8][23] or "magpie". Coming from the San Francisco Bay Area youll pass right through Buck Meadows on Highway 120. The 68mi (109km) Hetch Hetchy Railroad was constructed to link the Sierra Railway with Hetch Hetchy Valley, allowing for direct rail shipment of construction materials from San Francisco to the dam site. Today the 117-billion-gallon reservoir supplies drinking water to about 2.5 million San Francisco Bay Area residents and hydro-electric power generated by two plants downstream. SPUR wholeheartedly agrees that planning for water quality and reliability is important. [21] Periodic clearing of the valley provided ample space for the growth of the grasses and shrubs they relied on, as well as additional room for large game animals such as deer to browse. Even if we could obtain the several billion dollars necessary to carry out this endeavor (neither private nor public sources have yet been identified) some of the tasks involved may not even be possible. This effort was famously and vociferously fought by John Muir and was the subject of a national debate for years; the loss later galvanized the Sierra Club to successfully oppose large dams in Dinosaur National Monument and Grand Canyon National Park. The Hetch Hetchy Reservoir also serves to provide energy in the form of hydroelectricity, with a capacity of over 200 megawatts a year. Located at 3,900 feet, Hetch Hetchy boasts one of the longest hiking seasons in the park and is an ideal place for thundering spring waterfalls and wildflower displays. The pressure that Muir and his compatriots generated in 1908 and 1909 did not dissuade the administration from its support of the Hetch Hetchy dam, but this pressure was quite effective in the realm of electoral politics. Assign each group to analyze one or more . Would that be an improvement? Required fields are marked *. During the late 19th century, the valley was renowned for its natural beauty often compared to that of Yosemite Valley but also targeted for the development of water supply for irrigation and municipal interests. For instance, the WET company helps people see the beauty of water through magnificent water fountains. SPUR Urban Center, 654 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94105-4015 | (415) 781-8726 | [emailprotected], 2023 SPUR Privacy Policy 501(C)(3) Non-Profit Tax Identification: 94-1498232, a member-supported nonprofit organization. The Poopenaut Trail begins at a signed trailhead four miles past the entrance station. In 1913, Woodrow Wilson appointed Lane his Secretary of the Interior. This can be very disorienting to fish and disrupt their migrations as they depend on steady streams and flows to guide them. The water from Hetch Hetchy Reservoir is used to supply system customers as well as to generate hydroelectric power; the reservoir is also operated to provide instream flows to benefit fisheries and other wildlife. San Francisco Hetch Hetchy Dam Almost Failed and Could - Breitbart [8], Meadow plants unavailable in the lowlands were particularly valuable resources to these tribes. [5], The valley is fed by the Tuolumne River, Falls Creek, Tiltill Creek, Rancheria Creek, and numerous smaller streams which collectively drain a watershed of 459sqmi (1,190km2). [47] On October 28, 1934 twenty years after the beginning of construction on the Hetch Hetchy project a crowd of 20,000 San Franciscans gathered to celebrate the arrival of the first Hetch Hetchy water in the city. Shasta, Oroville, Hetch Hetchy and many others were built by damming large rivers. The National Park Service concluded that two years after draining the valley, grasses would cover most of its floor and within 10 years, clumps of cone-bearing trees and some oaks would take root. Hetch Hetchy - Yosemite National Park (U.S. National Park Service) Dianne Feinstein, the mayor of San Francisco at the time, said in a Los Angeles Times story in 1987: "All this is for an expanded campground? In this unmanaged scenario, where nature is left to take hold in the valley, eventually a forest would grow, rather than the meadow being restored. benefits of hetch hetchy dam. This strenuous 2.5-mile, round-trip hike to the Tuolumne River has 1,229 feet of elevation gain. If youre up for a driving adventure, try taking a little extra time to retrace parts of the route John Muir described in his book, My First Summer in the Sierra. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. As Hetch Hetchy Reservoir Fills, Environmentalists Still Dream of Hetch Hetchy was the first major battle of the environmental movement. We would be trading flooded acres in one place for flooded acres in another. View of the OShaughnessy Dam and the Hetchy Hetchy Road and parking. [61] In 2018, the Department of the Interior of the Trump administration began to consider a proposal to allow limited boating on the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir for the first time, supported by the advocacy group Restore Hetch Hetchy which argued that "San Francisco received [Hetch Hetchy's] benefits long ago, but the American people have not. Two additional reservoirs in the Hetch Hetchy RegionLake Eleanor and Lake Lloyd (also Yet it also highlighted the division within the conservation movement over two fundamental principles: utilitarian conservation versus preservation. It pitted a powerful city against a dedicated group of conservationists. Pinchot argued that applying the principle of the greatest good for the greatest number, meant the benefits accrued to the people of San Francisco from having the dam far outweighed leaving the valley in its current state. In 1923, the O'Shaughnessy Dam was completed on the Tuolumne River, flooding the entire valley under the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. After 2.5 miles (4.0 km), youll reach the Wapama Falls Bridge with an up-close view of the lowest section of Wapama Falls. The dam is a small portion of the overall Tuolumne River/San Francisco storage system that benefits the Bay Area. Hetch Hetchy Valley: Battle To Restore, History & Recreation These benefits include: Reservoir-based recreation - swimming, fishing, camping etc. Without Hetch Hetchy as its primary reservoir, San Francisco will be forced to pump and filter its water for the first time in a century, and lose out on the 726 million kilowatt-hours produced by . People have died after being swept off the bridge and onto the rocks below. "[83], Opponents of dam removal have pointed out that the flooding of the Hetch Hetchy Valley has also deterred the crowds that overrun other areas of Yosemite National Park. Copyright © 2023 More Than Just Parks | This post may contain affiliate links - read our Standards, Corrections, & Privacy Policy. Hetch Hetchy, a glacially carved valley situated in the northern end of the park, was flooded and dammed in the early 1900s in order to serve as the primary drinking water source for parts of San Francisco and the Bay Area. On a national stage, Hetch Hetchy became caught in the cross fire between the interests of private utilities ownership and those of municipal ownership. In the Bay Area, Hetch Hetchy water is stored in local facilities including Calaveras Reservoir, Crystal Springs Reservoir, and San Antonio Reservoir. The surface of the water hides an additional 300 feet of granite cliffs and once-upon-a-time waterfalls within its depths. "[19], People have lived in Hetch Hetchy Valley for over 6,000 years. In 2006, the California State Department of Water Resources (DWR) and Department of Parks and Recreation evaluated the cost estimates of multiple feasibility studies conducted between 1988 and 2005. While youre at it, plan to add to the historic flavor of this route with a stop the Northern Mariposa County History Center. But Sites would be what's called an off-channel reservoir, built away from the river. What should be the fate of prairies, wetlands, or coastal marshes? A Dam Removal in Progress. The first people, outside of Native Americans, to see the Hetch Hetchy Valley were Joseph, Nate and William Screechin 1850. Hetch Hetchy water travels 160 miles via gravity from . document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This is interesting from an ideological perspective. As Muir famously protested: Dam Hetch Hetchy? The main power facility in the system, the Moccasin Powerhouse, began commercial operation on August 14, 1925. The . [56] All four pipelines cross the Hayward fault. [15] When the glacier retreated for the final time, sediment-laden meltwater deposited thick layers of silt, forming the flat alluvial floodplain of the valley floor. In the sum of American economic expansion the intrusion might have seemed a minor, obscure matter, but to [John] Muir immense issues were involved: why had the nation preserved that pure wildness in the first place? The Dam Rent Is Too Low - PERC In the early 20th century, San Francisco flooded the Hetch Hetchy Valley, destroying "one of nature's rarest and most precious mountain temples." This is why the city can now ban new natural gas. Consequences - Hetch Hetchy: The Valley of Broken Promises Dam the Hetch Hetchy! This limits their ability to access spawning habitat, seek out food resources, and escape predation. DWRs meta-study found a range of costs from $3 billion to $10 billion for restoration and replacement of water and power sources. According to a local legend, Nate spotted a valley to the east that was too far to visit. [63] The city justified this as a temporary measure, but no attempt to follow through with completing the municipal grid was ever made. It is spectacular: a miles-long placid blue lake nested within towering granite cliffs, from which waterfalls cascade. Loss of the reservoir would decrease the Bay Areas water and energy security, requiring new water storage (possibly in reservoirs not owned by San Francisco) and the development of new water and energy supplies. As John Clayton writes, At the height of Progressivism, Phelan and other good-government types believed that the city should administer its own utilities. Principally, dam removal on the Klamath will require annual replacement of 696 gigawatt hours of electricity by other means. During summer, people of the Miwok and Paiute came to Hetch Hetchy from the Central Valley in the west and the Great Basin in the east. This is a place considered by John Muir to be equal in beauty to Yose. Topic: Hoover Dam - Water Education Foundation Fourth, dams alter water quality. There is a third concept, too, though it was little understood at the time. As the Hetch Hetchy Valley was part of Yosemite National Park, Hitchcock preferred to protect the park's natural wonders. First, the beauty of the valley which they felt should not be sacrificed to build a dam. Many are vital pieces of infrastructure that provide reliable water supplies, hydropower, flood control, and recreation. High temperatures prevail in summer months, but that is a small price to pay for the reward of vast wilderness filled with stunning peaks, hidden canyons, and remote lakes. As a 13.4-mile (21.4 km) round-trip hike, Rancheria Falls gets fewer day-hikers than Wapama Falls but is a popular backpacking stop. This is why environmental impact statements, which were not required prior to 1969, are so important today. The city must pay a lease of $30,000 per year for the use of Hetch Hetchy, which sits on federal land. The new. Yes, the plan to drain Hetch Hetchy involves causing new ecological damage. [82] Dianne Feinstein opposed this allocation, saying, "I will do all I can to make sure it isn't included in the final bill. It spans 900 feet (270 m) with a 17-foot (5.2 m) wide trail across the top that hikers use to cross to the opposite side. The dam also provides flood control, irrigation, and water storage along the Colorado River. As well dam for water-tanks the peoples cathedrals and churches, for no holier temple has ever been consecrated by the heart of man.. Hetch Hetchy, located at 3,900 feet in Yosemite National Park, is one of the park's most popular hiking . We have historic photographs to remind us of what Hetch Hetchy Valley looked like before the dam was built. [2] From Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, the water flows through the Canyon and Mountain Tunnels to Kirkwood and Moccasin Powerhouses, which have capacities of 124 and 110 megawatts, respectively. The valley floor consisted of roughly 1,200 acres (490ha) of meadows fringed by pine forest, through which meandered the Tuolumne River and numerous tributary streams. Hetch Hetchy: Congress and the Environment | National Archives Hetch Hetchy Valley Analysis - 1299 Words | Internet Public Library Buck Meadows is also a great place to spend the night. Hetch Valley Measure Pits Bay Area Against Environmentalists - The New Day 6: Hetch Hetchy Reservoir to San Francisco. Plus, the granite walls converge into a narrow outlet at the bottom of the valley the perfect location for a dam. [17] The valley's abundant plants provided nourishment for mule deer, black bears and bighorn sheep. On December 19, 1913, Congress passed and President Wilson signed the Raker Act which permitted the building of the OShaughnessy Dam and the flooding of the Hetch Hethcy Valley in Yosemite National Park. As the Hetch Hetchy Valley was part of Yosemite National Park, Hitchcock preferred to protect the parks natural wonders. This time it was in favor those who wanted to preserve the valley for generations yet to come. [74] A 2019 study commissioned by Restore Hetch Hetchy argued that draining the reservoir and equipping the valley with a tourism infrastructure comparable to that of Yosemite Valley (which receives around 100 times as many visitors annually as Hetch Hetchy's 44,000) could result in a "recreational value" of up to $178 million per year, or possibly an overall economic value of up to $100 billion. The main problem with the measure is that in spite of appearing to be about studying best options or planning for future water supplies, it has pre-determined the solution: draining Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. The O'Shaughnessy Dam was completed in 1923 and, after the . Photo: Chris Migeon The Hetch Hetchy dam is upstream on the Tuolumne River from a reservoir nearly six times as large. More Than Just Parks | National Parks Guides. Appreciate what nature created and what the city built there long ago. Friday, enjoy an evening about bats starting at 7 pm. Hetch Hetchy doesn't require permit, you need just regular National park pass. Journal entry - Hetch Hetchy.pdf - , Environmental Science To begin the trail, cross the dam and pass through the tunnel. By 1908, a different Interior Secretary, James R. Garfield, sided with the utilitarian conservationists and issued a permit for the Hetch Hetchy project. [37][38] However, ranchers who had previously owned land in the new park continued their use of Hetch Hetchy Valley a "sheep-grazing free-for-all [that] threatened to denude the High Sierra meadows"[37] before disputes over state and private properties in respect to national park boundaries were finally settled in the early 1900s. They acknowledge that a concerted effort would have to be made to control the introduction of wildlife and tourism back into the valley in order to prevent destabilization of the ecosystem,[68] and that it might be decades or even centuries before the valley could be returned to natural conditions. [14] At maximum extent, Tioga Glacier may have been 60mi (97km) long and up to 4,000ft (1,200m) thick, filling Hetch Hetchy Valley to the brim and spilling over the sides, carving out the present rugged plateau country to the north and southwest. Put another way, if Congress denied the city of San Francisco the Hetch Hetchy Valley, the California Progressive leaders suspected that it would only be a matter of time before the emerging Pacific Gas and Electric Company would grab the area. Hoover Dam. Miners did not stay in the area for long, however, as richer deposits occurred further south along the Merced River and in the Big Oak Flat area. The Hetch Hetchy Valley is about 8 miles (13 km) from Yosemite Valley. Worth a Dam? - Earth Island Journal [13], Hetch Hetchy is home to a diverse array of plants and animals. The terminus of the incomplete line was "conveniently located next to a PG&E substation", which connected to PG&E's private line which in turn bridged the gap to San Francisco. [51][52] The aqueduct delivers an average of 265,000acreft (327,000,000m3) of water each year, or 31,900,000cuft (900,000m3) per day, to residents of San Francisco and San Mateo, Santa Clara and Alameda Counties. [67], Those in opposition of dam removal state that demolishing O'Shaughnessy Dam would take away a valuable source of clean, renewable hydroelectric power in the Kirkwood and Moccasin powerhouses; even if measures such as seasonal water diversion into the powerhouses were employed, it would only make up for a fraction of the original power production. High temperatures prevail in summer months, but its a small price to pay for the reward of vast wilderness filled with stunning peaks, hidden canyons, and remote lakes.