Once again, the political pendulum would swing. Hetch Hetchy doesn't require permit, you need just regular National park pass. 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. ", "Hetch Hetchy reclaimed: The dam downstream", "Alternatives for restoration of Hetch Hetchy Valley following removal of the dam and reservoir page 15", "Chapter 9: Impact of restoration on hydropower production and revenues", "Putting Bay Area's Water Sources to a Vote", "Hodel Would Tear Down Dam in Hetch Hetchy", "On Hetch Hetchy, John Muir was wrong: California's revered naturalist wrote a poetic diatribe against the drowning of the great valley. The imputed motive was to divide the environmental movement: to see residents of the strongly Democratic city of San Francisco coming out against an environmental issue. A recent report evaluates the economic benefits of restoring Hetch Hetchy Valley. The spacious rooms include access to a heated swimming pool, spa, playground, and laundry facilities. As of October 2022, Hetch Hetchy was at 77.5% of its capacity. The question Pinchot always asked was, What is the greatest good for the greatest number?, He was famously quoted as saying, Where conflicting interests must be reconciled, the question shall always be answered from the standpoint of the greatest good of the greatest number in the long run., RELATED: Gifford Pinchot: A 2021 Lesson From Americas First Forester, In his congressional testimony, Pinchot argued in favor of building the dam. No picture of the giant sequoia trees in Yosemite National Park manages to fully capture their immense size and majesty. It then cascades on its westward descent through the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne, and enters the eastern end of Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. A) human well-being B) renewable energy C) environmental sustainability D) cultural services E) human population growth, The current total world population has just passed ________. His path roughly follows the John Muir Highway State Highway 132 that runs from Highway 49 in Coulterville up through Greeley Hill before connecting back into Highway 120 before Buck Meadows and the turn-off to Hetch Hetchy. The first Moccasin Powerhouse in Moccasin, California began commercial operation in 1925 followed by the Holm Powerhouse in 1960 (the same month the Early Intake Powerhouse was taken out of service). 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. 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. The same features that make Hetch Hetchy Valley so spectacular also make it an ideal location for a dam. Since the valley was within Yosemite National Park, an act of Congress was needed to authorize the project. Yet environmentalists have dreamed of restoring the dramatic valley along the Tuolumne River, which was filled in by the lake when the dam was built in 1938 under the New Deal. Then, well need to weigh our options for other new large water supplies, all of which will have enormous environmental tradeoffs: think of building a desalination plant, fighting with Los Angeles over the Sacramento Delta, building a peripheral canal or siting new large dams in presently undammed Sierra mountains and foothills. The privately owned Spring Valley Water Company had required its customers to pay exorbitant rates for years. Earn $27.3125 per hour. The Hetch Hetchy Valley is about 8 miles (13 km) from Yosemite Valley. 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. 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). [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. [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. Hetch Hetchy was the first major battle of the environmental movement. As surely as forests provided timber, so did they provide beauty, inspiration, and the renewal of over-citified spirits. Spring and early summer bring wildflowers including lupine, wallflower, monkey flower, and buttercup. The main power facility in the system, the Moccasin Powerhouse, began commercial operation on August 14, 1925. Yes, the plan to drain Hetch Hetchy involves causing new ecological damage. Rounding the corner and catching the first glimpses of Hetch Hetchy Valley reveals the play of light on water. Albright, along with Stephen Mather, became instrumental players in the creation of a national park system three years after Congress decided the issue of Hetch Hetchy. It is 13 miles from the Yosemite National Park border and twice as close to the park than the town of Groveland. DWRs meta-study found a range of costs from $3 billion to $10 billion for restoration and replacement of water and power sources. [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. Photo: Chris Migeon. [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. [54][55], After passing through the powerhouses, Hetch Hetchy water flows into the 167mi (269km) Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct which travels across the Central Valley. [8], While its cousin Yosemite Valley to the south had permanent Miwok settlements,[25] Hetch Hetchy was only seasonally inhabited. The SFPUC and other Hetch Hetchy users are currently implementing plans to meet this demand through recycled water, groundwater and conservation. [5] The valley was slowly becoming known for its natural beauty, but it was never a popular tourist destination because of extremely poor access and the location of the famous Yosemite Valley just twenty miles to the south. The Great Alaskan Land Fraud and the Pinchot-Ballinger Controversy caused both Richard A. Ballinger and Gifford Pinchot to resign and be fired respectively. Its a a wonderful place to see spring waterfalls and wildflower displays. Sign up for the email list and join an active community of monthly readers. To get to Hetch Hetchy, turn north off Highway 120 onto Evergreen Road about 1 mile (2.2 km) outside the Big Oak Flat Entrance gate, and 12.5 miles (20 km) east of the small community of Buck Meadows. The water is transported from the reservoir by the Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct which is made up of 170 miles of gravity-driven pipelines, dams, and other reservoirs. 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. Use good judgment and stay safe. As in Yosemite, the sublime rocks of its walls seem to glow with life . GROVELAND,CA San Francisco may be required to pay more rent to the federal government for water from the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir or even tear down the O'Shaughnessy Dam. 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. O'Shaughnessey Dam Facts. Show More. Divide the class into four small groups. Instead, it was a more complicated battle which pitted public interests against private interests. Photo: Herbert W. Gleason courtesy of the Sierra Club. Then it travels through a series of mountain tunnels. 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. The extensive amount of storage, which is designed to benefit the Bay Area as droughts become more severe with climate. ", "San Francisco-Hetch Hetchy Valley Connection", "Hetch Hetchy controversy: Could Yosemite's 'second valley' be restored? As a result, San Francisco secured a reliable and . 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. [4] A broad, low rocky outcrop situated between Kolana Rock and Hetch Hetchy Dome divided the former meadow in two distinct sections. 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. [21][33] Albert Bierstadt, Charles Dorman Robinson and William Keith were known for their landscapes that drew tourists to the Hetch Hetchy Valley. The inadequacy of the citys existing water supply came into sharp focus. The glacially-carved U-shaped valley floor maximizes the amount of water stored in the reservoir. [13], Hetch Hetchy is home to a diverse array of plants and animals. The trail to Wapama Falls is one of the most popular trails in the Hetch Hetchy area for a good reason. 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. 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. Ultimately, San Francisco sold hydropower from the dam to the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), which led to decades of legal wrangling and controversy over terms in the Raker Act. 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. San Francisco applied once again for rights to Hetch Hetchy in 1908. William Howard Taft became president in 1909. For your last day, enjoy a short hike on the shores of the beautiful Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. Slow down and spend the day at Tenaya Lake a beautiful and easy-to-get-to alpine lake cupped by granite domes. Finally, with the railroad complete, teams broke ground on the OShaughnessy Dam on August 1, 1919. Hidden in Yosemite National Parks peaceful northwest corner, Hetch Hetchy Valley is a treasure worth visiting in all seasons. Dam the Hetch Hetchy! Over the next decade, he produced fifteen large oils that transformed the valley into a dreamland unlike anything that ever met mortal eye.. [citation needed], The Hetch Hetchy Valley began as a V-shaped river canyon cut out by the ancestral Tuolumne River. 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. While opponents of the dam were hard pressed for financial support, the city of San Franciscos campaign was well financed. That reservoir is New Don Pedro, and it rests over existing pipelines to the Bay Area. [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. 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. Within the ranks of the Sierra Club, there was a split between those San Francisco members who favored the dams municipal use versus those who believed this pristine area should not be tampered with under any circumstances. [71], The dam would not have to be completely removed; rather, it would only be necessary to cut a hole through the base in order to drain the water and restore natural flows of the Tuolumne River. Yet it also highlighted the division within the conservation movement over two fundamental principles: utilitarian conservation versus preservation. Muir famously said, Dam Hetch Hetchy! It is the primary water source for about 2.5 million residents of the San Francisco Bay Area. It carried workers and materials for the dam, as well as tourists, postage and other amenities. [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). 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? Friday, enjoy an evening about bats starting at 7 pm. . The Hetch Hetchy Dam is destroying a piece of land that is the homes of multiple types of animals. It has not been demonstrated that Hetch Hetchy is the only available source, but only that it might be the cheapest. Gravel, logs, and other important food and habitat features can become trapped. He was a firm believer in utilitarian conservation. 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. Plus, they needed a way to bring supplies and workers into the mountains. About one million years ago, the extensive Sherwin glaciation widened, deepened and straightened river valleys along the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, including Hetch Hetchy, Yosemite Valley, and Kings Canyon farther to the south. The Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, which lies within the Yosemite National Park, supplies 85% of the water needs of San Francisco and surrounding counties. The locations of these two formations roughly correspond with those of Cathedral Rocks and El Capitan seen from Tunnel View in Yosemite Valley. [46], Work on the Hetch Hetchy Project began in 1914. 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. 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. Controversy continues to swirl around the Hetch Hetchy Dam even now. Garfield had granted San Franciscos request, but Ballinger ordered the city to show cause as to why Hetch Hetchy should not be deleted from their grant. This can be very disorienting to fish and disrupt their migrations as they depend on steady streams and flows to guide them. Two additional reservoirs in the Hetch Hetchy RegionLake Eleanor and Lake Lloyd (also It pitted a powerful city against a dedicated group of conservationists. Hetch Hetchy is on the main stem of the Tuolumne River and is part of the Tuolumne watershed. [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. 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. The larger issues at stake would frame environmental debates for years to come. You can expect one (short) email per month. Building the Dam. Animals were principally driven along Joseph Screech's trail from Big Oak Flat to Hetch Hetchy. But Sites would be what's called an off-channel reservoir, built away from the river. Furthermore, they provided a place for the wild plants and creatures to live out their own lives, according to their purposes. Have all students read the debate overview and page one of the HR 7207, the "Raker Bill". [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. This ballot measure is so problematic that SPUR has taken early action to oppose it. It also was an early battle of conservatives vs progressives. Third, dams alter natural habitats and change the ways in which rivers function. Other trails also continue to Lake Vernon. It pitted Gifford Pinchot, Americas first forester, against John Muir, Americas legendary conservationist. Required fields are marked *. [24] It is likely that the edible grass was blue dicks. But if you still have energy, continue past the bridge to Rancheria Falls. The reservoir is eight miles long and the largest single body of water in Yosemite. 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" At full capacity, the reservoir stretches eight miles (13 km) upstream of the OShaughnessy Dam. 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. Sign up for helpful guides, beautiful videos, and insider tips on the national parks. [50] The project is operated by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. Another popular trail crosses the OShaughnessy Dam and then takes a left turn to climb steeply out of the Hetch Hetchy valley. Call 209-372-0200 for the latest road and weather conditions, Hetch Hetchy Road Daily Hours: 8 am to 5 pm. They would light upon a man's blue shirt and turn it brown, and were voracious as mosquitoes would be. [24] Screech reported that the valley was bitterly disputed between the "Pah Utah Indians" (Paiute) and "Big Creek Indians" (Miwok), and witnessed several fights in which the Paiute appeared to be the dominant tribe. That's about twice the amount of power lost when Hetch Hetchy will be restored. Second, dams slow rivers. Before they could break ground at the OShaughnessy Dam, more infrastructure was required. Located at 3,900 feet, it boasts one of the longest hiking seasons in the park.