Show More. [72] The water storage provided at Hetch Hetchy could be transferred into Lake Don Pedro lower on the Tuolumne River by raising the New Don Pedro Dam 30ft (9.1m).
Hetch Hetchy: Pros and Cons of Restoration - Yosemite Tales If, on the other hand, San Francisco gained control, it would signal in important victory for public power resulting in lower rates for the people. The dam also provides flood control, irrigation, and water storage along the Colorado River. ", "Fall in the Main Tuolumne River at the Head of Hetch Hetchy Valley", "Fly Fishing Poopenaut Valley Tuolumne River", "Screech Brothers Find Hetch Hetchy Valley", "Big Oak Flat (No. You could then scuba ElCapitan down to the valley floor. 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" 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. Building a dam there was off the table. In an effort to build this support, he published his bookThe Yosemitein 1912.
SF's Hetch Hetchy water system is almost full. Is that a good thing? 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. The watershed is also strictly protected, so swimming and boating are prohibited at the reservoir (although fishing is permitted at the reservoir and in the rivers which feed it),[60] a measure which is considered unusual for US lakes outside the region. No picture of the giant sequoia trees in Yosemite National Park manages to fully capture their immense size and majesty.
Hetch Hetchy Quotes - Rausser College of Natural Resources Most people called it Hetch Hetchy, a mispronunciation of a Central Mohawk word for a plant that indigenous people were harvesting there when the first white man came along..
This reservoir on the Sacramento River has been planned for decades Could you imagine building a dam inside a national park today? "Hetch Hetchy is a grand landscape garden, one of nature's rarest and most precious mountain temples. A large part of today's incentive for restoration is that when the dam and the Hetch Hetchy reservoir were authorized by President Woodrow Wilson in 1913, as the Raker Act, the Hetch Hetchy Valley . Earn $27.3125 per hour. 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.
Hetch Hetchy Reservoir and Water System 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. As well dam for water-tanks the people's cathedrals and churches, for no holier temple has ever been consecrated by the heart of man. Would that be an improvement?
Hetch Hetchy Water & Power plans five-year $140M Mountain Tunnel In 2019, Restore Hetch Hetchy commissioned another study that found enormous recreational value from removing the dam. And Hetch Hetchy's damming has inspired generations of conservationists to protect our natural heritage and to commit to safeguarding our protected areas. At SPUR, we have done a lot of work on climate change adaptation. Have you been to Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite? Denouncing dam proponents as greedy, he wrote, These temple destroyers, devotees of ravaging commercialism, seem to have a perfect contempt for Nature, and instead of lifting their eyes to the God of the Mountains, life them to the Almighty Dollar. Slow down and spend the day at Tenaya Lake a beautiful and easy-to-get-to alpine lake cupped by granite domes. Appreciate what nature created and what the city built there long ago. Hetch Hetchy water travels 160 miles via gravity from . There, he met the same Indian chief and his wives. Muir concludes his treatise on Hetch Hetchy with the now familiar words, "Dam Hetch Hetchy! Your email address will not be published. Coming from the San Francisco Bay Area youll pass right through Buck Meadows on Highway 120. The second concept is preservation. Park entry (as needed). As John Clayton writes, At the height of Progressivism, Phelan and other good-government types believed that the city should administer its own utilities. The U.S. Congress passed and President Woodrow Wilson signed the Raker Act in 1913, which permitted the flooding of the valley under the conditions that power and water derived from the river could only be used for public interests. The grassroots organization of environmental activism, established by John Muir and his supporters, became a model for future environmentalists. Subsequent proposals for development in our national parks have been defeated by citizen activists inspired by calls to remember Hetch Hetchy. . Congress, confronted with rising public opposition, refused to act on the measure. In spite of Muirs eloquent and heated objections, the Raker Act was signed into law in December of 1913.
Hetch Hetchy Reservoir (Yosemite National Park) - Tripadvisor By 1908, a different Interior Secretary, James R. Garfield, sided with the utilitarian conservationists and issued a permit for the Hetch Hetchy project. Finally, in 1988, a third generator was added to the Kirkwood Powerhouse. 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. [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. Let us introduce you to some of the unique giant sequoia groves in the Yosemite Mariposa County area the Merced, Tuolumne, and Mariposa Groves are inside Yosemite National Park, and the Nelder Grove is just outside the park boundary to the south. An advantage which Phelan, Pinchot and other supporters of the dam project enjoyed was a divided opposition.
Water System | SFPUC Like Muir, she felt the beauty of the valley was a national treasure which ought to be preserved. In continuance, water has a personality and the presence of it can change moods and help people feel better. 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). history. 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.
Hetch Hetchy System - BAWSCA As well dam for water tanks the peoples cathedrals and churches, for no holier temple has ever been consecrated by the heart of man.'. [48], The Early Intake (Lower Cherry) Powerhouse began commercial operation five years before the O'Shaughnessy Dam was completed. The dam and reservoir, combined with a series of aqueducts, tunnels, and hydroelectric plants as well as eight other storage dams, comprise a system known as the Hetch Hetchy Project, which provides 80% of the water supply for 2.6 million people. It is the primary water source for about 2.5 million residents of the San Francisco Bay Area. The idea of punching a hole in or removing the dam and allowing the valley to be restored to its pre-development conditions has been around since the late 1980s. Copyright © 2023 More Than Just Parks | This post may contain affiliate links - read our Standards, Corrections, & Privacy Policy. Two additional reservoirs in the Hetch Hetchy RegionLake Eleanor and Lake Lloyd (also 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. The reservoir provides water to a large portion of the Bay Area through a 160 mile delivery. If you want to follow the old railroad line today, the Hetch Hetchy Road and most of the Mather Road were built on the old railroad bed and are beautiful scenic drives as well.
Journal entry - Hetch Hetchy.pdf - , Environmental Science Those in favor of dam removal have pointed out that many actions by San Francisco since 1913 have been in violation of the Raker Act, which explicitly stated that power and water from Hetch Hetchy could not be sold to private interests. [39], Interest in using the valley as a water source or reservoir dates back as far as the 1850s, when the Tuolumne Valley Water Company proposed developing water storage there for irrigation.
"Dam Hetch Hetchy!" - I Take History The larger issues at stake would frame environmental debates for years to come. 406 California Historical Landmark)", "John Muir's Yosemite: The father of the conservation movement found his calling on a visit to the California wilderness", "Timeline of the Ongoing Battle Over Hetch Hetchy", "The Hetch Hetchy Letters: If a Group of Intellectuals Argues in a Forest, and then that Forest is Submerged Under Water, Does Their Argument Matter? . 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. While the dialogue around the West's water wars has been concentrated on the Colorado River and the alarming decline of Lake Powell and Lake Mead, watersheds across the Western United States are feeling the effects of a rapidly aridifying landscape due to climate change. 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. The first people, outside of Native Americans, to see the Hetch Hetchy Valley were Joseph, Nate and William Screechin 1850.
Hodel Would Tear Down Dam in Hetch Hetchy - Los Angeles Times But Sites would be what's called an off-channel reservoir, built away from the river. Animals were principally driven along Joseph Screech's trail from Big Oak Flat to Hetch Hetchy. On returning home, he asked an Indian chief the name of the valley. A national debate ensued between the preservationist and conservationist factions of the young environmental movement.
Consequences - Hetch Hetchy: The Valley of Broken Promises If the nation set aside some natural places as especially sacred, how far beyond their borders should a sense of the sacred extend? If their signature-gathering campaign is successful, a small group of environmental advocates, led by Restore Hetch Hetchy, will give you the opportunity this November to vote on a measure that would require the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) to develop a plan to drain Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. Hetch Hetchy's restoration, after all, will benefit national . 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. [77][78], The economic wisdom of removing the dam has been frequently questioned. In the 21st century, Ken Brower, son of the renown environmentalist David Brower, wrote a fascinating account of the failed campaign to save Hetch Hetchy and the modern effort to Reverse an American Mistake, complete with speculation about how the rebirth of a wild valley might evolve. At the time, neither side understood the long-range consequences of human actions to manage the environment. The law authorizing the dam passed Congress on December 7, 1913. [67], Preservation groups including the Sierra Club and Restore Hetch Hetchy state that draining Hetch Hetchy would open the valley back up to recreation, a right that should be provided to the American people because the reservoir is within the legal boundaries of a national park.
August 14 Hetch Hetchy Began Producing Power (1925) - Today in This reservoir on the Sacramento River has been planned for decades Through the manipulation of water, the company also had the power to determine which real estate became valuable and which languished. [5] Chief Tenaya of the Yosemite Valley's Ahwaneechee tribe claimed that Hetch Hetchy was Miwok for "Valley of the Two Trees", referring to a pair of yellow pines that once stood at the head of Hetch Hetchy. Use good judgment and stay safe. DWRs meta-study found a range of costs from $3 billion to $10 billion for restoration and replacement of water and power sources. 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.
Another Iconic Valley In Yosemite? Report Estimates Tourism Benefits Of Let the dam at Hetch Hetchy stand - sfchronicle.com Application Opening: February 10, 2023 Application Filing Deadline: March 3, 2023 Hourly Compensation: $27.3125 Recruitment ID: RTF0131751-01138303 (131752) APPOINTMENT TYPE: Temporary Exempt: This position is excluded by the Charter from the competitive Civil Service examination process and shall serve at the discretion of the Appointing Officer. Due to its high-altitude location at 3,900 feet above sea level and its snowmelt-fed water supply, water from Hetch Hetchy Reservoir behind O'Shaughnessy Dam does not require filtration. But Hetch Hetchy was a federally protected as part of Yosemite National Park.
benefits of hetch hetchy dam - Lindon CPA's The openings in the Taft administration led to the eventual success of the Raker Act. Yes, the plan to drain Hetch Hetchy involves causing new ecological damage. Most people turn around here anyway. Residents drink it in 26 cities and water districts from San. 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. Since the valley was within Yosemite National Park, an act of Congress was needed to authorize the project. 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).
Tom Philp of The Sacramento Bee - The Pulitzer Prizes Have all students read the debate overview and page one of the HR 7207, the "Raker Bill". Required fields are marked *. In the foreground, the deep still water of Hetch Hetchy Reservoir reflects sunshine, clouds and the proud shadows of the surrounding mountains. "[32], In 1867, Charles F. Hoffman of the California Geological Survey conducted the first survey of the valley. [26], In the early 1850s, a mountain man by the name of Nathan Screech[27] became the first non-Native American to enter the valley. Browers Hetch Hetchy: Undoing A Great American Mistake, makes a compelling case for restoring the valley to its previous glory. 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. Yosemite Westgate Lodge offers newly-remodeled and well-appointed modern accommodation. Like Muir, he was totally transfixed by the Hetch Hetchy Valley. To visit the waterfalls or Yosemites northern backcountry, you walk across OShaughnessy Dam. This ballot measure is so problematic that SPUR has taken early action to oppose it. Enjoy elegant touches like wrap-around porches, and fresh-baked cookies served daily. Photo: Chris Migeon. The Tuolumne River continues through Tuolumne Meadows and the associated park developments at an elevation of 8,600 feet. [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. Only a tiny proportion of Yosemites visitors explore this out-of-the-way corner of the national park. The . This time, in favor of those who wanted to build the dam.