It is 13 miles from the Yosemite National Park border and twice as close to the park than the town of Groveland. It is the source of water for the city of San Francisco. Youll just need to see them for yourself. Should natural resources be used to serve the greatest good for the greatest number? As well dam for . The reservoir supplies water for the city of San Francisco, so there is no recreational boating or swimming allowed. In the Bay Area, Hetch Hetchy water is stored in local facilities including Calaveras Reservoir, Crystal Springs Reservoir, and San Antonio Reservoir. This option favors building a dam in the Hetch Hetchy Valley to provide hundreds of thou- sands of San Francisco residents with water and electricitybasic necessities for health and well-being, as well as urban development and economic growth. . A Trip to Hetch Hetchy and the O'Shaughnessy Dam 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. Even before it was finished, the massive . By 1908, a different Interior Secretary, James R. Garfield, sided with the utilitarian conservationists and issued a permit for the Hetch Hetchy project. 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. Hetch Hetchy doesn't require permit, you need just regular National park pass. To visit the waterfalls or Yosemites northern backcountry, you walk across OShaughnessy Dam. 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. 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.. Hetch Hetchy Reservoir - O'Shaugnessy Dam - National Park Service 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. Muir concludes his treatise on Hetch Hetchy with the now familiar words, "Dam Hetch Hetchy! This can be very disorienting to fish and disrupt their migrations as they depend on steady streams and flows to guide them. They suggest that draining the reservoir and turning Hetch Hetchy Valley into a tourist center similar to Yosemite Valley could be worth up to $178 million per year. 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. Hetch Valley Measure Pits Bay Area Against Environmentalists - The New [50] The removal of the dam would be extremely costly, at least $310 billion,[76] and the transport of the demolished material away from the dam site along the narrow, winding Hetch Hetchy Road would be a logistical nightmare with possible environmental impacts. This valley was isolated and remote, twenty miles northwest of the original. Hetch Hetchy Valley: Battle To Restore, History & Recreation In terms of quality, Hetch Hetchy water is so pristine that it is one of only a handful of water supplies in the country that doesn't need to be filtered, a process that is expensive and energy intensive. Animals were principally driven along Joseph Screech's trail from Big Oak Flat to Hetch Hetchy. Albert Bierstadt was known for his sweeping landscapes of the American West. Us too! Most people turn around here anyway. The Valley Below | The Verge He was opposed by then Mayor Diane Feinstein who argued that the dam was San Franciscans birthright. [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. Restore Hetch Hetchy Valley, Vote Yes! on Proposition F Some of these studies determined that the idea of draining the reservoir was technically feasible but incredibly costly. Friday, enjoy an evening about bats starting at 7 pm. The most prominent preservationist spokesman was John Muir.. The Hetch Hetchy watershed, an area located in Yosemite National Park, is the major source of water for all of San Francisco's water needs. 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. [69], In 1987, the idea of razing the O'Shaughnessy Dam gained an adherent in Don Hodel, Secretary of the Department of the Interior under President Ronald Reagan. [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. Pipelines 1 and 2 cross the San Francisco Bay to the south of the Dumbarton Bridge, while pipelines 3 and 4 run to the south of the bay. Assign each group to analyze one or more . [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. Seventeen species of bats inhabit the Hetch Hetchy area, including the largest North American bat, the western mastiff. This can lead to algal blooms and decreased oxygen levels. From our petition "The cost of replacing water storage in Hetch Hetchy Valley to maintain the current levels of water service and electrical power production by CCSF would be approximately 2 billion dollars, including 199 million dollars for additional interties, 372 million dollars for water supply, 387 million dollars for water treatment, 669 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. As a result, San Francisco secured a reliable and . Why We Need Hetch Hetchy More Than Ever | SPUR 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. "Hetch Hetchy is a grand landscape garden, one of nature's rarest and most precious mountain temples. They were both initially carved by rivers flowing down the Sierras relatively gentle western slope. 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. Being one of the biggest hydroelectric facilities in the United States and a National Landmark, Hoover Dam generates power to serve more than 1.3 million people. As well dam for water-tanks the peoples cathedrals and churches, for no holier temple has ever been consecrated by the heart of man.. There are four fundamental ways in which dams damage rivers. 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. Located 30 miles southeast of Las Vegas, the dam captures water from the . Hetch Hetchy Valley Analysis - 1299 Words | Internet Public Library The locations of these two formations roughly correspond with those of Cathedral Rocks and El Capitan seen from Tunnel View in Yosemite Valley. 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. [66] In 2015, Restore Hetch Hetchy filed a complaint arguing that the construction of the dam had violated a provision in the constitution of California about water use, but the lawsuit was rejected by an appeals court and later the California State Supreme Court. 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. DWRs meta-study found a range of costs from $3 billion to $10 billion for restoration and replacement of water and power sources. RELATED: A Woman Started The Environmental Movement (Can It Continue?). Once again, the political pendulum would swing. Would that be an improvement? In the foreground, the deep still water of Hetch Hetchy Reservoir reflects sunshine, clouds and the proud shadows of the surrounding mountains. It involved the unintended consequences of efforts to shape the environment to meet human needs. 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? 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. [2], Wapama Falls, at 1,080ft (330m), and Tueeulala Falls, at 840ft (260m) both among the tallest waterfalls in North America are both located in Hetch Hetchy Valley. 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. John Muir knew that without public support, the Hetch Hetchy Valley would be lost. As John Clayton writes, At the height of Progressivism, Phelan and other good-government types believed that the city should administer its own utilities. [57] Pipelines 3 and 4 end at the Pulgas Water Temple, a small park that contains classical architectural elements which celebrate the water delivery. They also remove water needed for healthy in-stream ecosystems. Even a short stroll from the car gives a magnificent view of the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir from the OShaughnessy Dam. Photo: Chris Migeon. Hetch Hetchy, unlike other water storage facilities in California, is relatively buffered from near-term climate change because of its high elevation.
Foo Fighters Molecules,
Articles B
