Here are just some of the hurdles we would need to cross: Identify water supplies to meet about 18 percent of the regions water demand in dry years (which occur about 20 percent of the time), Permit and build 40 to 90 megawatts of renewable power to supply almost all municipal demand in San Francisco, Build and operate a water-filtration plant, because water stored further downstream than Hetch Hetchy will have to be filtered, Engineer and design a series of expensive and complicated infrastructure projects to re-engineer major components of the regional water system, then get those changes through the environmental review process, Somehow convince senior water-right holders like the Modesto and Turlock Irrigation Districts on the Tuolumne River to let us store our drinking water in their reservoirs. [64] Peter Byrne of SF Weekly has stated that "the plain language of the Raker Act itself and experts who are familiar with the act (and have no stake in city politics) all agree: The city of San Francisco is not in violation of the Raker Act. The dam also provides flood control, irrigation, and water storage along the Colorado River. From 1901 - 1913, John Muir led the Sierra Club in a campaign to protect the Hetch Hetchy Valley, a part of Yosemite National Park, from being filled by a reservoir. Next to John Muir, the most vocal defender of the Hetch Hetchy Valley was Harriet Monroe. California needed secure, reliable access to drinking water for their burgeoning populations. The upcountry portion of the System begins with Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite National Park. Other trails also continue to Lake Vernon. Indeed, Hetch Hetchy today[when?] Congress has set aside the Yosemite Valley as a state park in 1864, established a national park around it in 1890, and then reclaimed the valley as part of the national park in 1903. If the dam were not to be built, it would only benefit the small percentage of Americans who actually visited the site and were concerned about the park's pristine condition. 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. The waterfall on the Tuolumne is now submerged under Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. Watershed Worker (Summer, 2023) - Hetch Hetchy Water & Power (Moccasin) - SFPUC (7542) Job at City and County of San Francisco in Moccasin. Enjoy elegant touches like wrap-around porches, and fresh-baked cookies served daily. [24] It is likely that the edible grass was blue dicks. Since the valley was within Yosemite National Park, an act of Congress was needed to authorize the project. The network goes from the Sierra Nevada mountains, across the Central Valley and out to the coast, and serves 2.5 million Californians in 30 cities across four counties. These are called Bay Division Pipelines (BDPL) 1, 2, 3, and 4, with nominal pipeline diameters of 60, 66, 78, and 96 inches (1.5, 1.7, 2.0 and 2.4m, respectively). The Hetch Hetchy dam would still be as naturally beautiful as it was before when it was preserved, and along with that, the construction of the dam will benefit the greatest number of. They also remove water needed for healthy in-stream ecosystems. The trail to Wapama Falls is one of the most popular trails in the Hetch Hetchy area for a good reason. The first is utilitarian conservation. Not to be outdone by Los Angeles, San Francisco had a greater feat in mind: dam the Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park and pipe the water into San Francisco. More Than Just Parks | National Parks Guides. 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. 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. Camping included, if needed; limited sites are shared among all the . [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. Secretary of the Interior, Ethan Allen Hitchcock, refused to give San Francisco a permit to build the dam. Had it been, the Sierra Clubs members would have presented a united front in opposition to its development. The proposed ballot measure calls for the creation of a task force that would spend $8 million to develop a long-term plan for improving water quality and reliability, remediating environmental damages caused by the water supply system, and identifying new water and renewable energy supplies so that Hetch Hetchy Valley could be returned to the National Park Service. The Sites Reservoir a $4.4 billion project to add dams and store more water that'll be sent south is still years away from completion. Albert Bierstadt was known for his sweeping landscapes of the American West. [8] Rancheria Falls is located farther southeast, on Rancheria Creek. The chief began packing up and, when Nate asked him why, he replied, The valley is yours now., Far below them, the river cascaded into a peaceful valley floor, a heavenly setting similar to that of the main Yosemite Valley. Its a a wonderful place to see spring waterfalls and wildflower displays. The gently rolling terrain has excellent views of the water and eye-catching Kolana Rock, which towers roughly 2,000 feet above. San Francisco Mayor James Phelan led the fight to build a dam at Hetch Hetchy. The O'Shaughnessy Dam and reservoir, and the series of aqueducts, tunnels, and tunnels as well as 8 other dams make up the entire Hetch Hetchy Project. Due to large cataracts on the Tuolumne River upstream, Hetch Hetchy Valley may have been in the uppermost range for native rainbow trout in the river. Us too! This is why environmental impact statements, which were not required prior to 1969, are so important today. Hetch Hetchy Valley was once home to a richly diverse ecosystem, surrounded by towering cliffs and waterfalls similar to those in neighboring Yosemite Valley. Related. This time, in favor of those who wanted to build the dam. [77][78], The economic wisdom of removing the dam has been frequently questioned. Slow down and spend the day at Tenaya Lake a beautiful and easy-to-get-to alpine lake cupped by granite domes. Formerly called Buck Meadows Restaurant and Bar, the new caf crosses rustic-mountain flair with roadside cafe friendliness. Spring snowmelt runs down the Tuolumne River and fills Hetch Hetchy, the largest reservoir in our water system. The falls roar in spring and early summer. 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? And in a larger sense, the waters of California served as the converting agents. Just before reaching the Bay Area, it passes through the Irvington tunnel near the city of Fremont, and the aqueduct splits into four pipelines at 373253N 1215555W / 37.548104N 121.932041W / 37.548104; -121.932041. Hetch Hetchy is an iconic, rare and spectacular landscape, Hetch Hetchy is part of Yosemite National Park and its damming and flooding is by far the worst destruction of our national parks have ever experienced Restoration would not only make Yosemite whole once again it would inspire people that we don't need to live with mistakes of the past" Pinchot was Americas Forester. He served as the first head of the United States Forest Service. The Freeman Report artfully depicted reservoirs in Norway, the United Kingdom and the eastern United States showing how nature and public utility worked together to improve their surroundings and provide long-term benefits for everyone. Prominent sponsors of the dam proposal, particularly (by then former) Mayor James Phelan and city engineer Marsdon Manson (and later his successor, Michael OShaughnessy), quietly lobbied key figures in the government, trusting that the appeal of municipal water and power would easily win supporters amid the prevailing progressive political climate. Only a tiny proportion of Yosemites visitors explore this out-of-the-way corner of the national park. It is definitely worth to visit Hetch Hetchy area especially in 2021 when main Yosemite area requires booking permits in advance. Second, dams slow rivers. The fundamental issue involved two concepts. Monroe was a Chicago poet who joined Muir and others on their 1908 and 1909 outings to the valley. Hetch Hetchy Valley is a treasure worth visiting. To get the electricity they would need, they first built a smaller dam at Lake Eleanor. 2023 Yosemite Mariposa County Tourism Bureau, Yosemite Itineraries: What to Do in Yosemite. Plus, they needed a way to bring supplies and workers into the mountains. Before damming, the high granite formations produced a valley with an average depth of 1,800ft (550m) and a maximum depth of over 3,000ft (910m); the length of the valley was 3mi (4.8km) with a width ranging from .mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output .frac .den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px}18 to 12 mile (660 to 2,640ft; 200 to 800m). The history of Californias growth is inextricably linked to the search for water. 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). At full capacity, the reservoir stretches eight miles (13 km) upstream of the OShaughnessy Dam. The Hetch Hetchy Road drops into the valley at the dam, but all points east of there are roadless, and accessible only to hikers and equestrians. Muir observed:[3]. Muir famously said, Dam Hetch Hetchy! 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). Guests at these suites receive breakfast on their patios. California Rep. John E. Raker submitted a bill to Congress granting the city of San Francisco the right to dam the Hetchy Hetchy Valley as a reservoir and also provide the city the right of municipalized electricity as well. It carried workers and materials for the dam, as well as tourists, postage and other amenities. 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. John Muir once described Hetch Hetchy Valley as, a grand landscape garden, one of Natures rarest and most precious mountain temples.. "[22], The valley's name may be derived from a Miwok word earlier anglicized as hatchhatchie, which means "edible grasses"[8][23] or "magpie". Visitors might still need chains to get down Evergreen Road this time of year, but a trip to Hetch Hetchy reveals an example of the potent storms, and a reservoir of controversy for 100 years. He said, So we come now face to face with the perfectly clean question of what is the best use to which this water that flows out of the Sierras can be put. This trail is 13 miles round-trip with 3,700 feet elevation gain. When youre standing at the shore overlooking what appears to be a lake, picture yourself looking down into a verdant valley filled with the tall native grasses that give the valley its name. [41], In 1906, after a major earthquake and subsequent fire that devastated San Francisco, the inadequacy of the city's water system was made tragically clear. [2] The dam and reservoir are the centerpiece of the Hetch Hetchy Project, which in 1934 began to deliver water 167 miles (269km) west to San Francisco and its client municipalities in the greater San Francisco Bay Area. Bierstadt described the valley as "smaller than the more famous valley but it presents many of the same features in his scenery and is quite as beautiful. Looking up at Wapama Falls from the footbridge on the hiking trail. Most importantly, San Francisco would lose its source of high-quality mountain water, and would have to depend on lower-quality water from other reservoirs which would require costly filtration and re-engineering of the aqueduct system to meet its needs. In 1987, President Reagans Secretary of the Interior, Donald Hodel, proposed that Hetch Hetchy be restored. The restoration of Hetch Hetchy would be a simple task compared to some dam removal efforts. In 1967 the Robert C. Kirkwood Powerhouse started commercial operation followed by a New Moccasin Powerhouse in 1969 when the Old Moccasin Powerhouse was taken out of service. Hetch Hetchy Water and Power also wants to remove the giant bulkhead that seals up the tunnel with 40 nuts and bolts, Ritchie said. So the idea of planning for new water supplies need not be on the ballot. Furthermore, they provided a place for the wild plants and creatures to live out their own lives, according to their purposes. [63] The city justified this as a temporary measure, but no attempt to follow through with completing the municipal grid was ever made. The maximum that the city has put away is 570,000 acre-feet of water. 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). The battle for Hetch Hetchy wasnt just conservationists vs preservationists. Historians of the American conservation movement regard Pinchot as the foremost exemplar of the utilitarian approach to conservation, according to which man has a right to use natural resources, but also an obligation to use them wisely and efficientlyor as the classic criterion put it, the greatest good for the greatest number over the long run. As applied to forests and espoused by Pinchot, this meant that the nations forest reserves ought not to be maintained as inviolate sanctuaries, but opened to enlightened management.. The dam in the Hetch Hetchy valley of Yosemite National Park, first proposed in 1908, was intended to create a reservoir that would provide water and electricity for the burgeoning city of San Francisco. The San Francisco Bulletin printed a Dec. 1, 1913, story calling the bills opponents a crowd ofnature lovers and fakers, who are waging a sentimental campaign to preserve the Hetch Hetchy Valley as a public playground, a purpose for which it has never been used.. No picture of the giant sequoia trees in Yosemite National Park manages to fully capture their immense size and majesty. 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. Many examples of red-barked manzanita can be seen along the Hetch Hetchy Road. Instead, the magnificence of a valley often described as Yosemite Valleys slightly smaller twin takes center stage. [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. For thousands of years, Native Americans subjected the valley to controlled bushfires, which prevented forest from taking over the valley meadows. It pitted Gifford Pinchot, Americas first forester, against John Muir, Americas legendary conservationist. The deciding factor was whether or not the land in question had access to water. [40] By the 1880s, San Francisco was looking to Hetch Hetchy water as a fix for its outdated and unreliable water system. From the turn-off, the road winds for 16.5 miles up the old Hetch Hetchy railroad grade (26.5 km) to the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, passing many lonely trails along the way. DWRs meta-study found a range of costs from $3 billion to $10 billion for restoration and replacement of water and power sources. San Francisco was able to accomplish this in 1925 by claiming it had run out of funds to extend the Hetch Hetchy transmission line all the way to the city. For thousands of years before the arrival of settlers from the United States in the 1850s, the valley was inhabited by Native Americans who practiced subsistence hunting-gathering. As the battle lines were drawn, the different methods employed by each side in presenting their case spoke to some of their basic assumptions about the nature of the issue. But Hetch Hetchy, one of nature's perfect . The surface of the water hides an additional 300 feet of granite cliffs and once-upon-a-time waterfalls within its depths. Plus, the granite walls converge into a narrow outlet at the bottom of the valley the perfect location for a dam. [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. Instead, it was a more complicated battle which pitted public interests against private interests. You can expect one (short) email per month. The Tuolumne River originates in the peaks above Tuolumne Meadows and is the major drainage system for the northern part of Yosemite. 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. When changes are made there are unintended consequences. There, he met the same Indian chief and his wives. . Stand on OShaughnessy Dam and feel the cool updraft. But tearing OShaughnessy Dam down now in order to restore Hetch Hetchy Valley would be a disaster. For example, plan to stop at the Lucky Buck Cafe on your way to or from a day of exploring Yosemite. In: Educational Resources, History, National Parks, Your email address will not be published. DWR also found that the planning studies necessary to refine the costs and benefits of restoration would cost $65 million alone. Everyone who drinks water or takes a shower in San Francisco should go. a strong proponent of restoring Hetch Hetchy Valley and Senator Feinstein is still[when?] It forced elected representatives to consider what a national park designation truly meant and whether or not the land within these parks deserved protection. Subsequent proposals for development in our national parks have been defeated by citizen activists inspired by calls to remember Hetch Hetchy. He discovered it a few of years later. But the reservoir has spared it some of the indignities of Yosemite Valley", "San Francisco Department of Elections, November 2012 Results", "San Francisco vote to study draining Hetch Hetchy Reservoir is defeated", "Hetch Hetchy Water and the Bay Area Economy", "Thesis: Water Supply Implications of Removing O'Shaughnessy Dam", "New Irvington Tunnel latest in Hetch Hetchy water system improvements", Current Conditions, Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, California Department of Water Resources, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission: Hetch Hetchy Water and Power, California Resources Agency Hetch Hetchy Restoration Study, Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency on Hetch Hetchy dam, National Register of Historic Places in Yosemite National Park, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hetch_Hetchy&oldid=1131920349, History of the Sierra Nevada (United States), Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the National Park Service, Articles with dead external links from May 2019, Articles with permanently dead external links, Articles with unsourced statements from May 2022, Infobox mapframe without OSM relation ID on Wikidata, Pages using infobox bridge with empty coordinates parameter, All articles with vague or ambiguous time, Vague or ambiguous time from October 2019, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2019, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 6 January 2023, at 11:49. For your last day, enjoy a short hike on the shores of the beautiful Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. Hetch Hetchy is on the main stem of the Tuolumne River and is part of the Tuolumne watershed. Hetch Hetchy Dome, at 6,197ft (1,889m), lies directly north of it. [56] All four pipelines cross the Hayward fault. Wapama and Rancheria Falls Looking up at Wapama Falls from the footbridge on the hiking trail. In fact, this is so obviously a good idea that the SFPUC and other end users of Hetch Hetchy water have been doing it for years. Gravel, logs, and other important food and habitat features can become trapped. Horace Albright, the second director of the National Park Service, wrote that Franklin Lanes appointment to the cabinet was made specifically for the purpose of pushing this [Hetch Hetchy project], the so-called Raker-Pittman Bill. (Source: The Battle Over Hetch Hetchy, Robert W. Righter). Hydroelectric power generated from the Hetch Hetchy project is largely sold to Bay Area customers through a private power company, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E). 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. [59] The water quality is high because of the unique geology of the upper Tuolumne River drainage basin, which consists mostly of bare granite; as a result, the rivers feeding Hetch Hetchy Reservoir have extremely low loads of sediments and nutrients. Proponents of the dam replied that out of multiple sites considered by San Francisco, Hetch Hetchy had the "perfect architecture for a reservoir",[43] with pristine water, lack of development or private property, a steep-sided and flat-floored profile that would maximize the amount of water stored, and a narrow outlet ideal for placement of a dam. [46], Work on the Hetch Hetchy Project began in 1914. Back in the early nineteen hundreds, when the debate start about The Hetch Hetchy dam being built a large majority of people did not realize or care how valuable nature is. Congress would decide the fate of the Hetchy Hetchy Valley. Native American cultures were prominent before the 1850s when the first settlers from the United States arrived in the Sierra Nevada. [35] Muir, who himself had briefly worked as a shepherd in Hetch Hetchy, was known for calling sheep "hoofed locusts" because of their environmental impact. On this point we hold that while we are willing to die for the lives or the health of the citizens of San Francisco, we are not willing to die for their pockets. It would be almost impossible to build a new dam there today. Call 209-372-0200 for the latest road and weather conditions, Hetch Hetchy Road Daily Hours: 8 am to 5 pm. Following a fierce nationwide debate led by John Muir and Will Colby of the Sierra Club, the City of San Francisco was authorized by the U.S. Congress, in the Raker Act of 1913, to construct a dam and reservoir on the Tuolumne River in Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park. Photo: Kim Lawson. Note: you may use the handout or navigate to our feature on the Hetch Hetchy Environmental Debates to access the overview and copy of the Raker Bill. 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. Shasta, Oroville, Hetch Hetchy and many others were built by damming large rivers. She says the water first leaves Hetch Hetchy through the O'Shaughnessy Dam. Also convince them it would be a good idea to raise the heights of their dams so we can enlarge these reservoirs with our extra water, flooding anew many miles of the Tuolumne River and acres of currently dry land. The second concept is preservation. While youre at it, plan to add to the historic flavor of this route with a stop the Northern Mariposa County History Center. [82] Dianne Feinstein opposed this allocation, saying, "I will do all I can to make sure it isn't included in the final bill. San Francisco assumed from the outset that there would not be significant opposition to using the Hetch Hetchy Valley, even if it was in a national park, for the high and noble purpose of providing water to one of the nations great and growing metropolises, so their efforts in Washington, DC, were conducted discreetly. [79] Some observers, such as Carl Pope (director of the Sierra Club), stated that Hodel had political motives[80] in proposing the study.