", "The Hetch Hetchy Story, Part II: PG&E and the Raker Act", "The Forbidden Water: San Francisco and Hetch Hetchy Valley", "Idyllic Pulgas Water Temple still offers comfort for weary wanderers", "Chronology of San Francisco's Water Development", "Frequently Asked Questions About Hetch Hetchy Reservoir and the Regional Water & Power System", "Water From Yosemite Is Still Cheap, for Now", "Serving 2.6 million residential, commercial and industrial customers", "Hetch Hetchy water goes through ultraviolet rinse", "A historic bid for limited boating at Hetch Hetchy Reservoir", "Trump team reassigns Yosemite National Park superintendent; timing raises questions", "Western Water Wars: Efforts to Take Over San Francisco's Hetch Hetchy Systems", "Hetch Hetchy Power Debacle: Continuing Yosemite Threat", "Could Hetch Hetchy Valley be worth $100 billion? Have all students read the debate overview and page one of the HR 7207, the "Raker Bill". The restoration of Hetch Hetchy would be a simple task compared to some dam removal efforts. Hetch Hetchy - Yosemite National Park (U.S. National Park Service) Fortunately, that time has not yet come, so this November, vote no on the Water Sustainability and Environmental Restoration Planning Act of 2012. Lets keep Hetch Hetchy around for the forseeable future. 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. Specialty pricing may require . While the debate goes on, Hetch Hetchy remains a relaxing and often-overlooked corner of the park - much to the delight of hikers and backpackers who prefer less touristy experiences. [45], The controversy over Hetch Hetchy was in the context of other political scandals and controversies, especially prevalent in the Taft administration. San Francisco applied once again for rights to Hetch Hetchy in 1908. But the ultra-liberal President Woodrow Wilson signed off in 1913 on the multi-decade construction of a series of dams within Yosemite National Park that flooded Hetch Hetchy Valley to create a massive reservoir, hydroelectric plants, and a 167-mile aqueduct for the sole benefit of the City of San Francisco. Buck Meadows is also a great place to spend the night. For all the similarities between Hetch Hetchy Valley and Yosemite Valley, there is one enormous difference the Hetch Hetchy reservoir. 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? Consequences - Hetch Hetchy: The Valley of Broken Promises history. [58], Water from Hetch Hetchy is some of the cleanest municipal water in the United States; San Francisco is one of six U.S. cities not required by law to filter its tap water, although the water is disinfected by ozonation and, since 2011, exposure to UV. This can be very disorienting to fish and disrupt their migrations as they depend on steady streams and flows to guide them. Apply Today! 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. Hetch Hetchy doesn't require permit, you need just regular National park pass. A full breakfast is served in the dining room. [42] They claimed the valley was not unique and would be even more beautiful with a lake. Hetch Hetchy Reservoir (Yosemite National Park) - Tripadvisor Those who presumed to speak for wealth, much of which flowed to San Francisco, believed they were transforming a pioneer land into a settled, civilized one. . Restore Yosemite? It can be done. - Los Angeles Times The upcountry portion of the System begins with Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite National Park. Muir and other defenders of Hetch Hetchy believe the fight revolved around two central issues. [56] All four pipelines cross the Hayward fault. 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. 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. The extensive amount of storage, which is designed to benefit the Bay Area as droughts become more severe with climate. Muir observed:[3]. Gifford Pinchot wanted the U.S Forest Service to control the parks, but after his support to dam Hetchy Hetchy, Congress voted in 1916 to to establish the National Park Service whose sole purpose was "to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the . In the distance, long white plumes of water cascade hundreds of feet down from rocky heights. Like Muir, she felt the beauty of the valley was a national treasure which ought to be preserved. [16], Compared with Yosemite Valley, the walls of Hetch Hetchy are smoother and rounder because it was glaciated to a greater extent. Like Muir, he was totally transfixed by the Hetch Hetchy Valley. Friday, enjoy an evening about bats starting at 7 pm. 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. The view in Hetch Hetchy Valley As you know by now, the hike is 90% along the reservoir so you always get to see the most beautiful blue water in all of California. [53], As completed, O'Shaughnessy Dam is 910 feet (280m) long, spanning the valley at its narrow outlet. Swimming and boating are prohibited in Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in order to maintain a clean source of drinking water. 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. In: Educational Resources, History, National Parks, Your email address will not be published. [73] Furthermore, the removal of O'Shaughnessy Dam would not require costly sediment control measures, as would be typical on most dam removal projects, because of the high quality of the Tuolumne River water in the first 90 years since its construction, only around 2in (5.1cm) of sediment had been deposited in Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, much less than most other dams. The fundamental issue involved two concepts. They would light upon a man's blue shirt and turn it brown, and were voracious as mosquitoes would be. ", "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. In November 2012, San Francisco voters soundly rejected Proposition F,[86] which would have required the city to conduct an $8 million study on how the flooded valley could be drained and restored to its former state. Not far from there, youll find more budget-minded lodging at Buck Meadows Lodge. Park entry (as needed). "[61][62], The battle over Hetch Hetchy Valley continues today[when?] 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. The city must pay a lease of $30,000 per year for the use of Hetch Hetchy, which sits on federal land. Yosemite's Secret Valley - Hetch Hetchy - YouTube 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. Hetch Hetchy, for the time being, was safe, and it would not be inundated during Roosevelts watch.. Even in the summer when Yosemite Valley is being explored by visitors from around the world, Hetch Hetchy remains an oasis of relative calm. No picture of the giant sequoia trees in Yosemite National Park manages to fully capture their immense size and majesty. Why We Need Hetch Hetchy More Than Ever | SPUR 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.. Hetch Hetchy | Hetch Hetchy Dam & Reservoir History | Yosemite.com strongly against restoration. The Hetch Hetchy Valley: A Reservoir In The Sierra Nevada Mountains Of As a result, San Francisco secured a reliable and . Construction of O'Shaughnessy Dam began in 1919 and was finished in 1923, with the reservoir first filling in May of that year. In an effort to build this support, he published his bookThe Yosemitein 1912. When changes are made there are unintended consequences. San Francisco could flood the valley and work began the following year. As we all know, there is no use of water that is higher than the domestic use., He went on to say, We come straight to the question of whether the advantage of leaving this valley in a state of nature is greater than the advantage of using it for the benefit of the city of San Francisco.. [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. Hetch Hetchy's restoration, after all, will benefit national . [57] Pipelines 3 and 4 end at the Pulgas Water Temple, a small park that contains classical architectural elements which celebrate the water delivery. And it is the largest single source of water supply for the Bay Area. [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. The other route begins at the entrance station and is 16 miles round-trip with 3,300 feet of elevation gain. History - Hetch Hetchy - Sierra Club In its natural state, the valley floor was marshy and often flooded in the spring when snow melt in the high Sierra cascaded down the Tuolumne River and backed up behind the narrow gorge which is now spanned by O'Shaughnessy Dam. In 1987, President Reagans Secretary of the Interior, Donald Hodel, proposed that Hetch Hetchy be restored. Hetch Hetchy, located at 3,900 feet in Yosemite National Park, is one of the park's most popular hiking . And today there is even an organization, Restore Hetch Hetchy, which is committed to doing just that. Hetch Hetchy: Pros and Cons of Restoration - Yosemite Tales So the idea of planning for new water supplies need not be on the ballot. But Sites would be what's called an off-channel reservoir, built away from the river. Storage and Delivery Updates | SFPUC 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. An adjacent building contains another five suites with vaulted ceilings, forest views and soaking tubs. 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 Hetch Hetchy Dam (1910-13) Abstract The damming of Hetch Hetchy in Yosemite National Park is a watershed event in environmental history, a presumed travesty that brought anguish to John Muir and his many sup porters throughout the United States. Hiking in Yosemite National Park | AAA Ohio Hidden in Yosemite National Parks peaceful northwest corner, Hetch Hetchy Valley is a treasure worth visiting in all seasons. Watershed Worker (Summer, 2023) - Hetch Hetchy Water & Power (Moccasin) - SFPUC (7542) Job at City and County of San Francisco in Moccasin. In the autumn of 1871, John Muir visited Hetch Hetchy for the first time. [18], Due to its abundant wetlands and stream pools, Hetch Hetchy was notorious among early travelers for becoming infested with mosquitoes in the summertime. [8], Before damming, the valley floor contained abundant stands of black oaks, live oak, Ponderosa pine, Douglas fir, and silver fir bordering the meadows, with alder, willow, poplar and dogwood in the riparian zone along the Tuolumne River. [6][7], Upstream from the valley lies the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne, while the smaller Poopenaut Valley is directly downstream from O'Shaughnessy Dam. Second, the sanctity of the national parks which they believed should not be violated. Congress would decide the fate of the Hetchy Hetchy Valley. John Muir once described Hetch Hetchy Valley as, a grand landscape garden, one of Natures rarest and most precious mountain temples.. View of the OShaughnessy Dam and the Hetchy Hetchy Road and parking. $27.3125/hr Watershed Worker (Summer, 2023) - Hetch Hetchy Water You can expect one (short) email per month. Now San Francisco wanted to dam one of the two principal watersheds in the park, the Hetch Hetchy valley through which ran the Tuolumne River, to create a reservoir for its water supply. Tom Philp of The Sacramento Bee - The Pulitzer Prizes Valley, reservoir, and aqueduct in California, USA, sfn error: no target: CITEREFMatthes1930 (, sfn error: no target: CITEREFWohlforth2004 (, sfn error: no target: CITEREFWhitney1874 (, sfn error: no target: CITEREFGlennon2009 (, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Hetch Hetchy, List of dams and reservoirs in California, List of the tallest dams in the United States, "Alternatives for Restoration of Hetch Hetchy Valley Following Removal of the Dam and Reservoir", "Hetch Hetchy Reclaimed: Drain it, then what? 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. Located at 3,900 feet, it boasts one of the longest hiking seasons in the park. Some of these studies determined that the idea of draining the reservoir was technically feasible but incredibly costly. Albert Bierstadt was known for his sweeping landscapes of the American West. Dam shame / It's time that San Francisco let go of Hetch Hetchy - SFGATE Divide the class into four small groups. "[85] However, she does support breaching the dam once it has reached the end of its lifespan, and not replacing it. [citation needed], The Hetch Hetchy Valley began as a V-shaped river canyon cut out by the ancestral Tuolumne River. The trail continues to climb for 1.8 miles (2.8 km) above the trail intersection, but you can turn around any time. (Source: American Rivers, How Dams Damage Rivers). Gifford Pinchot: A 2021 Lesson From Americas First Forester, Meet The Real Life Batman & Robin Of The National Parks, Natural Rivals: John Muir, Gifford Pinchot, and the Creation of Americas Public Lands, Gifford Pinchot and the Making of Modern Environmentalism, Son of the Wilderness: The Life of John Muir, General Sherman Tree: Everything You Need to Know About The Largest Tree in the World, 11 BEST National Parks Near San Francisco to Visit (Expert Guide), 7 EPIC National Parks Near Santa Ana Youll Love (Photos + Guide). [54][55], After passing through the powerhouses, Hetch Hetchy water flows into the 167mi (269km) Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct which travels across the Central Valley. 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 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" Exactly how San Francisco won the right to transform the bucolic valley into a 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). Within three years, Congress had passed the Organic Act, formally defining the parks and creating a new federal agency, the National Park Service, with a mission: to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.. 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. [79] Some observers, such as Carl Pope (director of the Sierra Club), stated that Hodel had political motives[80] in proposing the study. 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 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 dam and reservoir are the source for the Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct, which provides water for over . 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 doesnt need to be filtered, a process that is expensive and energy intensive. . [8], Meadow plants unavailable in the lowlands were particularly valuable resources to these tribes. Yes, the plan to drain Hetch Hetchy involves causing new ecological damage. The Poopenaut Trail begins at a signed trailhead four miles past the entrance station. Coming from the San Francisco Bay Area youll pass right through Buck Meadows on Highway 120. O'Shaughnessy Dam is a 430-foot (131 m) high concrete arch-gravity dam in Tuolumne County, California, United States.It impounds the Tuolumne River, forming the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir at the lower end of Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park, about 160 miles (260 km) east of San Francisco. 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. Wapama and Rancheria Falls Looking up at Wapama Falls from the footbridge on the hiking trail. Download the official NPS app before your next visit. Since the valley was within Yosemite National Park, an act of Congress was needed to authorize the project. [12] During the last glacial period, the Tioga Glacier[13] formed from extensive icefields in the upper Tuolumne River watershed; between 110,000 and 10,000 years ago Hetch Hetchy Valley was sculpted into its present shape by repeated advance and retreat of the ice, which also removed extensive talus deposits that may have accumulated in the valley since the Sherwin period. Photo: Chris Migeon. [77][78], The economic wisdom of removing the dam has been frequently questioned. [9] Formerly, a "small but noisy"[10] waterfall and natural pool existed on the Tuolumne River marked the upper entrance to Hetch Hetchy Valley,[11] informally known as Tuolumne Fall (not to be confused with a similarly named waterfall several miles upriver near Tuolumne Meadows). Hetch Hetchy and Yosemite Valley are so similar because they were created by the same sequences of geological activity. In 2007, in approving the environmental impact report for the Water System Improvement Program an investment of more than $4 billion to shore up the seismic reliability of the Hetch Hetchy water system the SFPUC gave itself, and its wholesale customers on the peninsula, ten years to develop a plan that would identify reliable alternative sources of water to meet the regions future growth in demand, rather than diverting more water from the Tuolumne River. 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. And in a larger sense, the waters of California served as the converting agents. The O'Shaughnessy Dam was completed in 1923 and, after the . Had it been, the Sierra Clubs members would have presented a united front in opposition to its development. Garfield was responding to critics who believed that the federal governments primary responsibility was to use the nations public resources for development in the service for the greatest number of people. Learn what to expect from Mirror Lake in various seasons. 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.
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